The Sulfur Alchemist
by RestInChaos
Summary: I was just a normal Mutt-with-Friend until *they* came along. They not only changed our daily life, they got other States and a group of carnivores chasing after us. Lovely. EdOC Revisions of the first several chapters coming soon!
1. Uno! That's 1!

This IS another OC story. The same cliche 'don't like, don't read' applies. Ok? The grammar is better than my other story, but don't expect me to update soon. I'm working on other stories as well. Enjoy!

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"Ahh. . .I'm starving!"

"Well I told you we should have spent the night at that hotel back there."

". . .Sh-Shut up."

Me and my wonderful best friend were sprawled out at the train station, doing what else, but waiting for the train. Ok, I was sprawled out. She was sitting there straight up. How she could keep her manners going when it was 106 degrees was beyond me.

I was laying on the bench completely opposite as her. My legs were against the back of the bench, and my head was hanging off the edge. My hoodie jacket, gloves, and shirt were stuffed in my messenger bag, which was laying next to me.

No, I wasn't just in jeans and a bra. I'm not a slut.

My "bra" was actually a spaghetti strap shirt, which I wore instead of a bra for these certain occasions. I sigh and place a hand on my stomach, which was suppressing more and more growls. "Don't you have ANYTHING in Ms. Snuffles?" I ask with an amused tone. She glares playfully at me and puts her big pink purse in her lap before opening it up.

After several minutes of waiting for a result from her purse candy-hunt, she closes it up and stares back into space. "Well?" I ask. "Nothing." She says dully, making me plop my head back into hanging position. I start kicking my legs back in forth, which surprisingly managed to get some wind hitting against my bare legs.

I had rolled my jeans up to my thighs earlier.

"Where are we going?" Hannah asks. I look at her appalled, wondering why she didn't ask 3 days ago when we left. Ignoring the look, she maintains her curious one. I sigh and say, "Xenotime." She nods and looks back into space. Suddenly her face lights up. Curious, I sit up and look halfway back to the direction she was looking, only to see a miracle darting down the tracks.

Hallelujah, a train!

I jump up(stumbling as I do, I'm quite clumsy sometimes) as the train comes to a stop. "Let's go!" Hannah shouts, jumping up and running to the train. I grab my bag and run after her. "Finally! FOOD!" I shout as we get to the train doors. Hannah and I get on and I stop from bumping into Hannah when she suddenly stops. Looking up to yell at her, I shut my mouth and glare when I see some thugs, one pointing a gun at Hannah's forehead.

I think we should have waited for the next train. . .

I then start to fume. I was STARVING here! I had a loaded gun in my pocket, knives inside my jeans, and alchemy in my hands, and they were in the way.

Put 2 and 2 together.

"You made a mistake coming to this train girlies."

OH, now I don't have name too?! I'm drawing the line!

Noticing that I was looking down and shaking, the one holding the gun motioned to me using the weapon he was holding, and asks Hannah, "What's with this chick?" Hannah looks at me and her eyes widen, "Um. . ."

"I'M STARVING HERE AND YOUR HOLDIN ME UP!!"

I shout just as I punched the guy with the gun in the face. He flies across the train and the other thugs gasp. "That's it!" One shouts, running to me with a knife. I jump up and kick him in the face. "YOU'RE THE ONES WHO MADE THE MISTAKE HERE!!!" I shout as I "fly" back to the ground.

Another runs up to me and I do a roundhouse kick on him while shouting, "FIRST YOU KEEP ME FROM FOOD, AND THEN YOU CALL ME strongGIRLIE/strong?!?!" I jump up, and direction my foot to the gun holder's stomach as I come down. "I DON'T WORK THAT WAY!!!" I shout as I land on him, making him cough.

Hannah just stood in the background with a sweat drop.

I land, breathing hard, and Hannah runs to the guys to tie them up. "I think you overdid it. . ." Hannah says. Ignoring her, I suddenly perk up when I smell food. I smile and go to the smell, leaving Hannah to deal with the thugs, and the baffled passengers.

----

"Mm!" I make the noise as I stuff my mouth with a sandwich. Hannah sweat drops as she takes a bite of her sandwich. "Ahhhh." I say with a smile, before continuing on my sandwich. "Why are we heading to Xenotime exactly?" Hannah asks, looking up at me from her food. I pause and glance at my sandwich.

I remembered the day she first started tagging along with me.

She had asked where I travel exactly, and I told her all over. When she asked why, I didn't exactly tell her the truth. I told her it was for photography, and journalism.

She doesn't need to know the truth.

"I heard there's a man there who's saving the town after it went down hill."

She nods, believing it, and starts eating again. I look out the window and say, "I wonder when we'll get there." Hannah shrugs, and I hear someone say, "To Xenotime?" I look over and see a boy about my age standing in the isle next to our booth. "Um. . .Yeah?" I say. "It'll be a few hours." He says kindly, before asking, "Can I sit here? My friends kicked me out of our private booth, and there are no empty booths."

"Sure." Hannah says with a smile. I could instantly tell she thought he was cute. I didn't blame her though. He had shiny black hair and nice blue eyes.

He smiles and sits down beside me(the one beside Hannah had our bags in it), and says, "Thanks. And. . .Who's bag is who's?" He looked at our bags, mainly Hannah's, with amusement. I smirk as I take a bite of my food, and Hannah blushes. "Um. . ." Before she could continue, I say, "Yeah, why don't you show him Ms. Snuffles?"

She glares at me as the boy laughs. "So the messenger's yours?" He asks me. I simply nod. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you my name, did I?" He asks with a smile. He seemed a little too polite to me. Hannah shakes her head, and waits for him to talk. "My name's Daisuke."(A/N: . For the ones who know the guy in the picture. . .I couldn't think of anything, ok?!)

"I'm Hannah and that's Riley."

"Nice to meet you two." Daisuke says. "Nice to meet you." Hannah says with a smile. I take a huge bite of half of my sandwich and chew happily. "R-Riley!" Hannah shouts with a disgusted look. "What? I'm hungry!" I say with a full mouth. Daisuke laughs, "You must be the one that beat up those thugs."

Glancing at him as I chew, I nod. Hannah scoffs at me and shakes her head. "Where are you headed?" I ask bluntly, resting my elbow on the window sill. Hannah shoots me a glare and I add, "If you don't mind me asking."

I'm not the greatest socialist in the world.

He chuckles and says, "I don't mind. I'm heading to Xenotime as well. I'm going there to see my grandfather." I nod and Hannah says, "That's sweet. Visiting for the holidays?"

The holidays?

Oh yeah, it's going to be Christmas soon. . .

What? I don't keep up with that stuff!

"Um, no, actually. I'm going to live with him." He says. "Oh, sorry!" Hannah says. I look back out the window and sigh. This was going to be a long hour.

----

I groan as I open my eyes slowly, and with difficulty. Looking around, I see all the passengers, mind a few, were asleep. The train was really dark because of the time, and no one was making a sound.

It was kinda creepy.

And cool.

I smirk to myself and stretch my stiff limbs. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I look down at my watch. It was 10 at night. I didn't think we'd be on the train so late.

I stand up and step out of our booth, careful not to disturb Hannah or Daisuke. I start walking down the isles, causing some of the few people awake to look up at me. I just shoot them a smile and keep walking. I get out onto the walk-way thingy of our train compartment, and lean against the railing.

I move my hair, which was blowing in my face like crazy, back into a tight ponytail. I let out a relaxed sigh and plop onto the floor of the walk-way. . .thing. I lean against the wall of the train and close my eyes. The wind felt really good against my face. "Hey. . .You're that chick that was sitting next to Daisuke." I hear someone say.

Opening my eyes, I see a boy about my age standing the walk-way across from mine. He was standing straight and pointing at me, which made my brow twitch.

The boy had shaggy blonde-brown hair that was shoulder length, but pulled into a low ponytail. I couldn't tell his eye color, but I knew they were dark. He was kind of stick skinny, and really tall.

"Yeah, I am. I'm Riley." I say, not bothering to stand up. He stops pointing, finally, and lightly waves at me. "Nice to meet you." He says. I close my eyes again and for the next few minutes, we had a light conversation. It was pretty soothing actually.

Eventually, I stand up and as I swipe at my knees, I say, "I had a nice talk with you Chad, but I should go now." Chad nods and says, "Yeah, me too." We both go into our train compartments, and I head to my booth.

Just as the train starts to stop, I get halfway to my booth. Once I get to the booth, the engineer says through the speaker, "Everyone, wake up. We're here in Xenotime." I tune the rest out as I wake Daisuke up, since Hannah woke up by the announcement. He jumps when he wakes up, and I smirk.

"We're here."

He nods and says, "I should go see my friends now. Bye!" He leaves while waving at us and Hannah says simply, "He was cute." I shake my head at her and grab my bag. "Let's go." I say as I leave the train. Hannah blinks at the direction I went and runs after me quickly.

"So are we getting a hotel, or what? I must say, I am a bit hungry." Hannah says, looking at me. I jump onto a waist-high brick "wall" and start to walk down it carefully, considering it was only wide enough for one foot, and it was really dark outside.

Standing with one foot, I pick the other straight up, at waist level, as I kick my arms out like a bird. Switching feet as I walk down it, Hannah follows on the ground. "We can't get a hotel just yet." I say. "Why not?" Hannah asks. "I uh. . .need to get pictures of the doctor dude's place at night. I think it would look cool." I say with a straight face.

She nods, believing me, and says, "Where is his place?" I stop and stare into space blankly. "Uh. . ." She sighs and I glance at her from the side of my eye. She turns and runs off. I put my right foot down, then remember how wide the wall was thanks to feeling like I was falling.

I wave my arms franticly and quickly put my right foot right in front of my left. "H-Hey! Where are you going?" I shout, looking at her retreating back. I huff and plop down onto the wall. "Well that's nice! My best friend bails on me for no reason-"

"What are you going on about?"

I whip my head around and see Hannah with blank, and blunt, deadpanned eyes. In her hand was a note. "Where were you?!" I ask loudly, glaring at her. She looks at me and says, "I was asking where the guy lives." "Oh." I say in a small voice. "And you're welcome!" She says sarcastically, shoving the note into my hands.

I open it and read it. I jump up, back onto the wall, and shout, "Let's go!" She sighs and walks after me.

----

"We▓re here!" I say with my hands on my hips, a prideful smile on my face. "Finally!" Hannah exclaims. "We have to be quiet. I don't want to wake them." I say before walking to the side of the house, passing window after window.

I jerk to a stop and shoot back a step, causing Hannah to bump into me and almost fall. "What was-" "Shh!" I interrupt her and peak into the window. She follows suit and we both see a blonde haired boy and a suit of armor tied to a chair. An old man, the man I was looking for to be exact, was standing in front of them with a smirk.

"Oh no!"

I glance at Hannah, who said this, and gently push her away from the window as I step away. "I need you to ring the doorbell. Distract the old man however you can. I'll get them and then signal you. Got it?" I say seriously.

Hannah nods and runs around the house, mumbling to herself.

I look back in the window and watch as the man keeps talking. Suddenly he stops and shouts something. After a second, he sighs and shakes his head before walking out of the room. "Perfect Hannah." I say quietly before grabbing the bottom of the window. I pull it open, and wince at the noise it made.

The two tied up look over at me in shock. I climb through the window and throw them a lopsided grin. "Hi." I say casually before walking over to them. I bend down and untie the armor dude, then blondie. "Um, thanks?" Blondie says. "Who are you, miss?" Armor dude asks as they both stand. I mock salute and say, "Riley at your service, now we should probably go before he gets back."

They nod and we quickly leave the house.

Walking around, I could hear Hannah says tearfully, "And I really loved Mr. Scratch-Claws! He was like a son to me. . ." I smirk and wave. She notices this and quickly says, "Oh never mind, found him!" She spins on her heel and quickly walks away.

I wait for the man to go back inside before we walk out of the side of the house. "WHAT??!?!" Hearing this, we shiver an start to run. "Quick! This way!" Blondie shouts before making a sharp turn down an alley. Armor dude, then me, then Hannah run after him. We hide in the alley and I slide to the ground as Hannah leaned against the wall, with her hands on her knees.

Blondie was on all fours, and Armor dude was standing tall looking down at us. "How come you're not tired?" Hannah asks armor dude with surprise. Armor dude pauses and rubs the back of his neck. "He has a lot of energy." Blondie says quickly.

"So who are you?" I ask, looking at them. "I'm Edward Elric, and this is Al, my little brother." Blondie says, smiling at us. "Little brother?" Hannah asks with a raised brow. Ed's face turns dark and he shouts, "WHO YOU CALLIN PUNY?!" Al had to hold him back from beating Hannah up, which I found a bit amusing.

"What's going on out here?" I hear a soft woman's voice ask. I turn my head to the voice and see a light on in a house, streaming outside from an open door. My eyes widen, and I jump up, covering Ed's mouth while whispering harshly, "H-hey, quiet down! You're gonna wake the whole town!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Stop copying me!"

"Deaf? I said don't tell me what to do!"

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Review! Use only respectful critiscm please.


	2. Ni! That's 2!

I know I haven't updated in a while! Sorry! I've been really busy with school, requests from readers, editing, and my own stories as well! I have a lot on my plate at the moment!

This chapter may or may not be good. Read it to figure it out. I usually keep it for a couple days before posting, but I just finished it, and reread it.

Thanks to **Element Girls**! That's the BEST comment I've ever gotten on a story!

I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I only own my own original material and characters, which are based off of real people.

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**The Sulfur Alchemist  
**Chapter Two:  
_Ideas Galore!_

". . .And then you two showed up."

Hannah and I were both completely silent after Ed and Al's explanation of what happened. It was a little. . .Farfetched? I mean, what are the chances a pair of brothers impersonated THE FullMetal Alchemist, and then the big head honcho attacks the impersonators and the real ones?

"What if you're lying?"

I looked at Hannah, a bit surprised at her voice. What? I tune out when I think! I looked to Ed and bobbed my head up and down. "Yeah, what she said!" Hannah only glares at me, "Don't act like you know what you're doing all of a sudden."

My jaw drops. "B-but. . .!" She only rolls her eyes at me though. So cold. Then a thought struck me. It struck me like a blind man at the batting cages! Like a bird and a perfectly cleaned window! Like a. . . Like a. . .You get what I'm saying!

"Wait, what about those imposters? Where are they?"

Ed and Al's eyes widen and Al begins to panic as Ed laughs nervously. It would have been amusing, if not for the serious situation on our hands. Hannah's jaw drops as I hit my head on the table in front of me. We were all in a diner.

"You forgot them?!" I shout at Ed, jumping to my feet. Ed jumped to his also, like he'd match my height. Ha! That pipsqueak. "Well I didn't at first! But somebody came along and made me forget!" He shouts.

Now I was angry. Not as angry as I was on the train with those lunch-stealing bandits, but more angry like you'd be if a little kid kicked your chair the first time. "Well! I was just trying to save your butt!" I shout. It was pointless to wonder whether or not we had attracted attention.

Hannah was blushing from it all. "R-Riley? Let's just go save them now." She whispers to me. Al nodded in agreement, looking to his older, yet SMALLER, brother. Ed and I "humph"ed, but we left the diner together, and in one piece. Well, four pieces. . . There's four people, so. . .Four pieces.

We all got back to the building and side by side, we peaked into the window. It was a bit cramped. I squirmed uncomfortably in between Al and Ed and huffed stubbornly. In the window, was Mugiar. He was talking about something. I couldn't hear, but I knew it was probably really boring.

"OK, why don't we break in, Riley and I hide in the ceiling unnoticeably while Al and Hannah confronts the guard-"

"Uh, Ed?"

"Wait! Al and Hannah confronts the guard and then you and me attack and-"

I had started to twitch. I do that when I'm royally annoyed. Al sighed at his brother and Hannah only giggled. She took amusement at my annoyance! "Listen to me, you idiot!" He finally looks at me and I start to say, "He's never seen me before. So I'll stall him, you three sneak in and go find where the imposters are."

He stayed silent, but he and I both knew my plan was wonderfully brilliant. "Fine." He grumbles, which brings a grin to my face. I nod proudly and crawl my way to the front of the house. As I walked to the house, I think of a plan to say to Mugiar.

Getting to the door, I bite my lip nervously and ring the doorbell. As it rang loudly throughout the big mansion, I sighed and shifted my shoulders. 'Please dear God, let this work.' I think mentally, glancing upwards to the sky before looking back to the door.

The door opens and standing there was the short fat man himself! "Sir! I was just wondering. . ." I trail off, wondering what to say still.

I mentally cursed at my brain for choosing now to go blank.

"Yes, what?" He asks rudely. _'Well!'_ I think to myself.

"I was wondering if you'd like to subscribe to a magazine!" I shout gleefully with a wide smile. He simply glared at me and began to slam the door. In a desperate rush of hope, I shout just as the door shuts, "There's Alchemist Weekly!"

". . .Male Lifestyle? I heard the next edition is a guide to lose weight!" I shout loudly through the door. But he doesn't answer. I could hear the footsteps of him walking away.

Thinking quickly, I force choking sounds, and here the footsteps stop. I stood there a moment to see of he'd open the door, but it started to walk away again. _'Damn him!'_ I think before letting myself fall to the ground.

I shut my eyes tightly as I fell myself falling forward. The reason for embracing myself was evident when I hit the door with a painstaking, loud thud. I mentally cried as I heard footsteps toward the door. 'Those imposters better be frggin' saints!' Was the last thought before the door opened, causing me to fall to the ground.

For added effect, I kept my eyes open, but forced the pupils as far up as I could get them without going permanently blind. It did cause a headache though, but the more real it seemed, the better! "Sir, she needs help!" A guard shouts from beside me.

"Well, I can't let her die on my doorstep, too many people would get suspicious." Mugiar says bitterly before walking over and picking me up himself. I felt the urge to scream at the old man's touch, but held it back in my throat.

After several seconds of my head bobbing because he was walking, I was set down on a couch. I had to give the old man props, at least his furniture was comfortable.

"Tim, see what's wrong with her. I have to go research more." He says gruffly before leaving the room. My eyes close and the guard presses two fingers against the side of my neck. Still notices my heartbeat, and my calm breathing, he leaves the room.

I peak one eye open and upon seeing no one there, I open the other and start to sit up. I had a feeling the guard would return soon, so I had to hurry. I ran to the window, opening it and looking out from left to right. To the left, I saw the window we were spying in. They weren't there, which lead me to assume they got in.

"I hope they got in." I say to myself.

I lean out of the window and turn around, only to see guards standing there along with Mugiar. They were all glaring at me angrily. "Uh. . ." I pick up a magazine form the desk beside me, and smile a cheesy grin, "Magazine?"

**. . .**

"Chill!! Jees, what crawled up your -" Hannah growled at me and I stopped what I had said. Mugiar was dragging me to the dungeons by my arm. Quite roughly might I add!

My hands were kept together by those wooden things..

What? I don't know what they're called! Do I look like I read books on medieval weapons to torture and imprisonment in my spare time? Didn't think so.

He throws me into the small prison Hannah and the others were in, and walks off after locking it, obviously. I held my hands in front of me as I looked to Ed at my side. I then smile an innocent and simple, yet cheesy and nervous smile, and shrug. "Guess my plan kinda backfired."

Ed glared at me as Hannah shook her head exasperated. I heard a light chuckle behind me, and turned to the noise. A blonde boy about our age sat there with a younger boy that resembled him. "Who're you?" I ask bluntly.

Hannah looks to me surprised, "Fletcher and Russell? Remember? The guys we were trying to save?"

"Well sorry! It's hard keeping up with all the people we've been saving lately!" I sneak an evilly amused glance to Ed, who looked majorly irked at the comment.

I then turned to the two boys I had just met. "Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm Riley."

The older one, who by the looks I guessed was Russell, smiles a small smile at me as the younger boy, Fletcher I'm guessing, smiled wide at me. Then everything went silent.

I was bored! So so bored! I hated silence. It was worse that it was silence in, of all places, a **prison cell**. So, I began to rack my brains to find something.

Then I found it.

I started to click my tongue continuously, looking around the cell as I did. Ed was getting annoyed, which I found very amusing. Hey, that may sound mean, but have you SEEN this guy when he's angry?! Hilarious!

"So, have any of you figured out you can use alchemy on these babies?" I ask simply, pointing to the bars with my thumb.

Ed looks to me with a scowl. "Brilliant idea. Wonder why we didn't think of it." He says sarcastically. I scoff and look to the side.

"Well why haven't you tried?" I snap back. I knew tensions were high, but I was slightly angry too.

Hannah sits down beside me as Al watches with worry. "I can't do alchemy, Russell and Fletcher's chalk was taken from them, nobody can clap, and the floor is sand." Hannah points out.

I look around, trying to come up with something. Several ideas ran through my mind, all either too complicated or impossible. But then one came to my head.

"Hey, Han? Let me see something. . ." I say softly. I look to the wooden locks that kept Hannah's hands together, and saw the metal lock on it. I bend down slightly, and notice the metal hinges on the side of the wood.

"Don't move." I say, before bringing my finger to the hinges. The edges of the hinges were sharp, like I hoped. I rest my finger against the top of the edge, and drag it down the edge roughly. I bit my lip from the sting, but bared it.

Bringing my finger away, I noticed the blood. "What are you doing?!" Hannah exclaims, worried. I ignore her though, and walked to the wall. Pressing my bloody finger to the wall, I drew the transmutation circle. Everybody was watching as I finished and look to them.

"Really, why couldn't you figure this out?" I say jokingly to them all, before resting my hands on the circle. A couple feet into the rock wall turns to dust, flowing the floor with a layer or two of it. I smile proudly at a job well done, seeing that the bars, like I had hoped, ended were the rock had started.

And now, there was just a big gap!

Freedom!!

I walked to the end of the bars where they ended. At the bottom, a bard stood in it's spot alone, like it broke from the prison bars. I put the wooden space of my lock on a side of it, and pulled as hard as I could. The wood broke in half, and I ended up falling on my back.

I quickly drew some more blood from the same finger, which honestly hurt like crap, and drew a circle on Ed's locks. Breaking them for him, he frees his hands and then begins to break ours. Once my hands were free, I shouted, "Finally! Freedom,"

But then, I broke out in song, "Can This Freedom Heal The Pain?! Oh So Much Pain Set On Me!"

It was loud, but I didn't hear any bullies coming down! As we all slipped out the prison I started to stop. "Finally!" Ed says lowly, as we start to run upstairs. "Shh! Don't want them to hear you!" I whisper to him with a smile.

He twitches slightly, while Hannah tried not to laugh. From behind me, I could hear Russell asking Al, "Does she always do this?"

The metal noise of Al's armor shrugging was the only thing I heard in response. This only made me giggle, of course!

We got upstairs, and noticed Mugiar was in the bathroom. We hurried to the room he was researching in, and saw instantly all the red stones. "Holy. . .!" I stop mid-sentence, we were all surprised. Well, except Russell and Fletcher.

"Destroy them any way you can." Russell says. We all then begin to destroy the red evil little stones. I glanced to everybody, and saw they were so absorbed into their own thing. So, I grabbed a cup of them and clapped. Placing my hands on the cup, it's destroyed, and turned to dust.

I did this every time no one would notice, or was watching. I couldn't let them know I had no need for a circle. Not _yet_ anyways.

After the next few minutes, we finish our job. "Let's go!" Russell says, running out of the door, making sure no one saw him. I start to leave with everyone, when I notice Ed looking back. "What?" I ask, stopping completely.

I look to what he was looking at, and see a secret door in the floor. "What do you think is down there?" I ask, walking to his side. I was growing curious, and I could tell Ed was too.

Ed begins to walk to it, and opens the door up. We both look down, but only see a rock tunnel. Ed looks in a little bit more, hanging almost up side down. "I see red water far away!" He exclaims.

My eyes widen, "The dude's got **more**?!" He leans back up and looks at me with a mischievous smirk. I rose a brow at his look. I was. . .scared!

"Let's blow it up." He says simply.

"_What_?!" I shout, jumping back, and landing on my butt in the process, "You're kidding, right?! Don't you think that's gonna catch some unwanted attention?! And the others are still in the building!"

He shrugs, "We'll do it at night." I continued to look at him like he was crazy, though.

"Why do you want to blow the place up so bad?!" I ask in a rushed whisper. This guy was starting to creep me out!

"It's the only way to stop him from making more stones." He says simply.

I shake my head at him. "There are more than one ways to skin a cat!" I shout. Now it was his turn to look at me weird.

Heh, skinning a cat. . .

I shake my head, and say, "I'm not killing Mugiar with you!"

Ed looked at me like I was an idiot, "I don't want to kill him! I just want to destroy the red water."

"By blowing it up?!" I exclaim. Not only did I not want to blow up a HOUSE!! But Mustang didn't tell me to do that! He simply said to come here and stop Mugiar. Not to KILL HIM!!

"Fine, don't help! I'll do it myself." Ed says, closing the door and leaving the room. I only sigh and leave the room as well, and we all leave the huge mansion, unseen.

I just hoped that tomorrow the mansion was still there.

* * *

Don't flame. Don't get me wrong, I love critiscm. What I don't love is people saying, "OH EM GEE!!1 IT'S SO HORIBULL!! ew!" So don't do that. I especially don't like people that go to every OC story they can find, and say the exact same thing without even reading the story: "It's horrible and disgusting and should be taken down immediately. You are an idiot and your story sucks and i don't know why you have it up so just take it down!" I hate run-ons, and I hate when you say '_and_' more than ONCE!

So, to put it simply, don't flame _immaturaly_. Be responsible with flaming! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr._


	3. Drie! That's 3!

I don't own FMA! It's owned by the genius...uh...One minute.

Ah! Hiromu Arakawa. Yah, that's it.

Ugh, I had to re-edit this because of the stupid internet, so I hope it's correct, grammar-wise.

Thanks to **xWeaselxWolfx**, **Rosoku**, and **Agemy Von Stein** for reviewing! I really appreciate it!! XD

* * *

**Chapter Three:  
**You Killed Mugiar?!

I whine as Ed looked my finger. It was bloody, and infected. It looked gross.

Cool, huh?

"Nooo! Let me go!" I complain, adding a whining tone to my voice the best I could. Hannah was shaking her head at me as Al watched Ed and me. Vercio was washing dishes, ignoring us completely. The meanie.

Ed sighs, looking at me exasperated. "Will you just relax?! If you don't stop complaining, I'll just let your finger have to get cut off." He states.

I glare at him grumpily, "Don't use that on me. I know you're just trying to scare me into calming down." Ed looks at me, annoyed, and squeeze my finger. I yelp in pain, and he looks back to my finger.

So I just continue to whine and complain. "Need some help?" Hannah asks with a smug smirk.

Ed shakes his head at her, "No!" He looks back to my finger and continues to clean it the best he could, while I kept struggling to get free of his grasp.

Ed sighs, shouting at me, "STOP MOVING!!"

I immediately get in his face, and shout back, "NO!!"

Hannah lets out a sigh this time, and stands. She walks to the counter Vercio was at, and points to the jar on a shelf above the counter, "May I?" He nods, and she grabs a cookie from the jar.

She walks over and sticks a cookie in my face. "Ooh!" I say, snatching it from her and taking a bite.

Completely ignoring Ed messing with my finger.

Russell smirks and tries not to laugh. Ed looks to Hannah with surprise, "That's all it took?!" Hannah nods simply and sits back in her chair.

He sighs, shaking his head, as he finishes cleaning the wound on my finger. Wrapping it in a band-aid, he throws the wet napkins away and sits back down at the table.

**. . .**

We were sitting at the table still, in light conversation with one another. Light being, we didn't talk about ourselves. "Well, I'm going to bed. . ." Hannah states after looking at the clock. It was around midnight.

Then my stomach growled.

Hannah looked to me wide-eyed, and I smiled a cheesy grin. Can you blame me? I hadn't eaten since the train! "Figures you'd be hungry. . ." Hannah mutters before going into the guest room we were staying in.

I sigh and stand to make a sandwich. As I did, I heard Ed and Al talking. Russell and Fletcher had gone to bed earlier. Well, they weren't exactly talking. They were whispering.

So, obviously, I'd feel curious right? _Yes_.

And so, being curious, I'd try to hear, correct? _Correct_.

It was only natural!

"Do you think Riley would know anything?" Al asks lightly. As I rubbed mayonnaise on my bread loaf, I could feel Al looking at me, to show Ed I was the current subject.

Ed sighs, "I doubt it. Yeah, she's an alchemist. But that doesn't mean anything Al. And besides, if we asked her, she might get suspicious. . ." I slowed down in making my sandwich, now really curious with what they were talking about.

Were they talking about the red water? Let's see. . .Red Water can be used for what. . .

Oh yeah!

The Philosopher's Stone. Why'd they want that thing? No one even knows if the myths of it's "powers" are true or not.

I let out a sigh as I drop the bread loaf on top of the sandwich, done making it. I carried it back to the table, and plopped down into my seat. "What might make me suspicious?" I ask dumbly.

Ed and Al froze a bit, looking from each other to me. But I just took a bite of my sandwich and chewed happily. The ham was pretty good!

But what ham ISN'T good?

Ed continued to stutter over his words to find an answer, so I decided to give an answer to him. "The Philosopher's Stone?" I ask simply, still with a clueless look in my eye.

Ed's eyes went wide, so I say bluntly, "Whisper lower." They both laugh nervously, and I smirk, taking another bite from my sandwich, making a mental reminder to ask Vercio where he got his ham.

"So do you know anything about it?" Ed asks seriously, looking me in the eye. I, however, was chewing.

"Brother!" Al scolds, surprised at Ed's sudden question. I had no problem with it really. Better he just asked then lie about it.

I nod at Al, "It's ok Al," I look to Ed and continue, "I don't know much. I do know that the Red Water could have made it, but that can be a real danger to people. And then there's. . ."

I trail off, thinking of what I'd say. Ed doesn't need to know, does he? Nooo. . .Well, not from me, of course.

"Carmot. Scientists believed that the stone was mainly composed of Carmot. But they've proved that Carmot no longer exists. So that's useless also."

Ed looks to the table, and the atmosphere changes to a sad one. I look from Elric to Elric curiously, and slowly stand with my sandwich in hand. "I think I'll just. . .Finish this in the bedroom." I say, rushing into the room Hannah was in.

My eyes close tighter when a light hits them suddenly. I could only groan and turn away from it. I hear a sigh, before Hannah saying, "Wake up Riley."

"Nah." I say groggily. I heard Hannah sigh, and push me a little. I just groaned and rolled over onto my side again.

"Riley, come on." Hannah whines.

"**Arrghghghurglllesagh**…"

Hannah stepped back at the surprising sound, and my body shook from laughter. "What the **hell** was that?!" She shouts loudly.

I stuck my head out of my pillow, and look to her sleepily. And in a tone as if it were obvious, I say, "Me telling you to piss off. But nicer."

She glares at me a bit, and hits me with a pillow. I start to rub the sore spot on my poor head, as she says, "Well it sounded like a horse underwater trying to talk!"

I looked to her quizzically, and after a silent second, I ask her, "So tell me Hannah. . .What exactly does a horse underwater trying to talk sound like?"

She pauses, trying to think of an answer, when Al suddenly busts into the room. I let out a scream, as I jump off my bed and hide behind it.

Al and Hannah sigh at me and Al says quickly, "Mugiar's mansion is in rubble!"

**Shit**.

I jumped out of the bed I was in, saying all the while, "Well, time to get up!" Hannah watched as I darted out of the room, while trying to put on my converse at the same time.

And let me tell you, not easy!

"Just a minute ago you didn't want to get out of bed!" Hannah exclaims, surprised at my sudden energy.

I look to her dumbly, and she sighs. I was standing on one foot, my other foot in one hand with my shoe in the other.

I felt like a flamingo.

"Just a minute ago I didn't know Mugiar's mansion was in rumble." I say simply.

She sends me a short glare and I finish putting my shoe on. I ran to the door, swung it open and ran outside. But remembering something _VERY_ important, I ran back inside and pointed at Vercio.

"And when I get back, we need to talk about where you get your ham."

They all looked at me strangely, and I ran back outside the house.

**. . .**

My jaw was on the floor as I stared the rubble ahead of me. It was in a big heaping pile of junk, but I could still tell it was formerly Mugiar's mansion.

Ed really blew the house up!

Seeing Ed walking toward me with a smug smirk, I glare at him crazily. He stepped back, a little bit scared. "What. . .?" He asks.

I threw my arms around as I shouted, "WHAT?! You killed Mugiar!" My face contorted into a weird look, that was slightly humorous, but surprised and angry.

"I didn't kill Mugiar! I just went to destroy the red water, but things kinda got out of hand. . ." He says, rubbing the back of his neck.

I looked at him, thoroughly shocked. "Kind of?!" I hissed at him. His brow twitched slightly, but he just stood there.

"His mansion is in a 1,000,000 pieces, Mugiar's DEAD, and you're telling me it _kind of_ got out of hand?!" I shout, still throwing my hands around wildly for extra effect.

"He killed himself!" Ed shouts, before explaining it to me.

Apparently, he was found by Mugiar, then they got in a fight. The Red Water started to explode, thanks to Ed, and Mugiar refused to leave.

**. . .**

Hannah and I sat at a booth in the train, while Ed and Al was in the booth facing us. They were talking to Russell and Fletcher as Hannah and I talked.

"So where are we going now that Mugiar's dead?" At Hannah's statement, I shot a glare at Ed who twitched slightly.

I smirk, and look back to Hannah, "What else? See the boss. He'll give us a new job." I cross my arms and lean back in the seat.

The train began to move, and Hannah dug into her beautiful purse. I glanced to her, curious as to what she was looking for. She took out a mirror, and I rolled my eyes.

I didn't see why people carried around make-up. It takes up space that important things could be using. But Hannah saw it different, of course.

"Hello!"

We all look up to the voice and Hannah and I looked shocked at the sight of Daisuke standing there with a huge, but stupid, smile on his face. "Who are you?" Ed asks dully.

Daisuke rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Oh, hello. My name's Daisuke. And you are?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. I still thought he was suspicious. No way could someone be so polite.

And especially to **me**! How could someone know what I'm like, and **still** be nice?! There's just no way.

"Ed. That's my brother, Al." Ed says, motioning to Al. He then looks at Hannah and me, "You three know each other?"

Hannah nods, "Yeah, we met on the train to Xenotime."

Daisuke smiles, "Yeah," He looks to Hannah with a slight smirk, "You were the one with Mrs. Snowflake, right?"

Hannah blushes a bright red, and I snicker in the background. "Mrs. Snuffles." She corrects him under her breath, hiding behind the object of her embarrassment.

Daisuke laughs "_good-heartedly_" and looks to me, "And you were the one that attacked those bandits for food?"

I smirk, and nod. "And you were the one that was going to live with his grandpa? So where are you leaving Xenotime?" I ask curiously.

"Oh, I thought I'd explore Amestris, you know? Being stuck in Rush Valley all my life kind of did it's toll on me." Daisuke says, sitting in the booth next to ours.

"Oh! You lived at Rush Valley? I lived only an hour away from there!" Hannah exclaims, smiling. They then began in light conversation.

Ed and Al were playing cards already, completely ignoring us. But I was still suspicious about Daisuke.

I look around Hannah at him, and ask, "So you left your grandpa so soon? That's kind of mean, no offense, but you just got there."

Daisuke smiled at me, "You're suspicious of me, I can tell. I don't blame you, with me showing up everywhere-"

"You're too nice." I say bluntly.

Daisuke and Hannah blink at me surprised, and I shrug. Daisuke stands and says, "Well I should go back to my original seat. My friends are probably waiting."

He turned to walk off and I smile, "Yeah, tell Chad I said hi." He looked confused, but nodded and walked off.

Hannah sat still, glaring at me all the while, with her arms crossed. I look to her blankly, before turning to the Elrics' card game. "Don't turn away from me!" She shouts.

I look back at her and she says, "You totally insulted him! Instead of flirting, you decide to give him the third degree?!"

I blink, and nod simply. "Yeah. Something is fishy about him. I just don't like it." I say before turning back to the card game.

"Ugh! You're unbelievable, you know that?!" Hannah shouts.

I nod, "Yep."

And so, apparently she'd thought it'd be funny to smack me along the train ride to Central. . .

**Payback's a bitch**.

* * *

Be responsible. Don't Flame and Drive!

Oh! In the Chapter Title bar, here are the current translations:  
"Uno! That's 1!" Uno is Spanish...Duh.  
"Ni! That's 2!" Ni is Japanese. (Thanks to Aqemy Von Stein for telling me I got it wrong. I didn't realize I spelt it wrong until then :)  
"Drie! That's 3!" Drie is Dutch.  
I only know Spanish numbers(I blame my Kindergarten teacher!) and Japanese numbers. If I get any future numbers wrong, please tell me! I'll probably put a list of the translations like every 3 chapters, or something.

I may not write the next chapter up just yet, because not only do I want to wait to get reviews (hint, hint) but I have to update my Shippuden series.


	4. Vier! That's 4!

I Don't Own FullMetal Alchemist, So Don't Think I Do. I Don't. Arakawa Hiromu Does. So Think She Does. **Because She Does**.

Thanks to the fabulous daaaarlings that reviewed!!  
**The Fabulous Daaaarlings Are:  
**Moonlight-Arashi  
xxxReadySteadyGoxxx  
Aqemy Von Stein  
miyuki  
xWeaselxWolfx  
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Element Girls

Yeah...I said it'd take a while, but...I love writing this story too much T-T Curse You Reviewing Readers.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Four:  
**_Assessments and Snakes_

"Did you hear? Edward Elric challenged Roy Mustang to a fight for his assessment." A woman says from behind me. I was currently scanning some papers for the General. But that got me to stop.

"Oh yes! I was so surprised. I mean, Roy Mustang is the Flame Alchemist after all." I rolled my eyes at the other woman's words. Obviously she's in love with Roy.

"Mhm, but Edward's a child prodigy! He is the FullMetal Alchemist. Think about, he might win." The other says, causing me to smirk.

"Good point. . ." The other girl says, before they both walk off, coffee in their hands.

Once I made sure the room was empty, I began jumping around in spot, while chanting, "Yes yes yes yes yes!!"

Recently I'd been looking for a "cover-up job" to tell Hannah. I hadn't even been given a job by Mustang yet, which was unusual. He liked to see me 5 minutes a week max, so he always had some kind of job for me as soon as I got to HQ. But not this time, which was odd.

And now, being handed to me on a silver platter, was something to do! I mean, Hannah had been curious since we haven't been getting any jobs in the past week since we got back to Central. I needed something, and here it was!

At the sound of someone clearing their throat, I stop jumping and spin to the door. Three guys were standing there, all staring at me like I was a lunatic. "Wh-what?" I ask defensively. They continue to stare, so I yell frustrated before stomping out of the room, embarrassed.

****

. . .

"So. . .Why are we here again?" I ask, looking up at Hannah who eyed the kittens dreamily, and the snakes suspiciously.

She turns to me and glares. I only shrugged, as she said, "To get a cat! I just told you, didn't I?"

I shook my head as I walked past the birds, and to the snakes, "Hey, if I remembered, I wouldn't of asked, now would I?" She glares at me playfully, and I look closer at a certain snake. It had several rings down it's body, starting black, then red, black again, and finally yellow.

I smiled slightly, humming the old rhyme I was taught a long time ago. "Let's get a snake." I say simply, causing Hannah to stiffen. I giggled as she began yelling at me.

"Very funny Riley! You know I hate snakes! No way do I wanna wake up on a train with a snake in my face!" She shouts with hands on her hips.

I look back at her and say, "Aw come on, it won't wake in your face. I'll keep it in a cage. . .And besides, this one isn't venomous, it can't hurt you."

She looks away, "humph"ing, before mumbling, "Venomous or not, I don't like snakes."

I pout as I stand, crossing my arms. "So either pick a pet or let's leave." I say bluntly, shrugging my shoulders. She sighs and walks toward the cats.

As we walked down the isle, I stuck my hands in my pockets. "Well, let's hurry then. I've got a job at the Military Headquarters to shoot, and it should be starting soon." I say, recalling the event that occurred with me trying to get info on the battle. . .

_"What time does it start?" I ask darkly, behind the man, peaking at him over his shoulder. The man jumps, and spins around to me._

_"Wh-what?!" He asks, freaked out._

_I sigh and shake my head. With a roll of my eyes, I ask, "What time does the fight between Mustang and Elric start? What time man, **what time**?!"_

_He jumps again, and stumbles backwards, "I don't know! I'm not going to be here for it, I've got a mission in-"_

_Beginning to trudge away, I bend my head down as I mutter darkly, "Ah, you're useless, soldier!"_

_"Hey Major?" I ask cutely, smiling up at him with a wide grin. He doesn't look up at me from his book and meal, so I sigh. "Major Hughes. . .!" I whine like a spoiled little girl._

_His head snapped up, and he looked around wildly with his hand at his forehead. "Funny. . .I thought I heard someone calling me! But of course, they weren't, they said Major, and I'm a Lieutenant Colonel!"_

_My brow twitches slightly as I glare at him. "Lt. Colonel Hughes." I say in monotone, and he looks at me instantly._

_"Yeeeees?" He asks._

_Shaking my head at him, I ask, "What time is the fight between Ed and Roy?"_

_He raises a brow to me, "Ed? You're calling him on a first name basis? Does that mean you know him?" I glare at him, with a look telling him to get to the answer, so he sighs, "Alright. . .It's in two hours."_

Hannah looks back to me as she walked, "So your boss gave you a job?"

I paused, looking at the ceiling. ". . .You could say that!"

Honestly, Roy had no idea I'd be there. As far as he was concerned, I didn't even know about it! Hehe. . .Imagine his pleasant surprise when he sees moi standing there with a camera!

. . .Well, I'd like to think it'd be a pleasant surprise. And besides, in my own little world, it would be.

"What about this one?" She asks, looking at a black and white cat sitting in the top cage thing. It sat there staring at us with puppy-dog eyes. . .

Hey, if a cat can do puppy eyes, why do they call it _puppy_ eyes?

Placing my hands on my hips, I shake my hand continuously. "No. Nuh-uh. As much as I love cats, they're too independent, especially for us. He'd run away the second we step off the train." I say, causing her to pout at me. "I said no Hannah. We can't. I love cats, I do, but. . ."

She sighs, nodding, "I understand. Let's go then." She began walking down the isle, so I followed.

"We could get a dog? They're always loyal!" I say, causing her to shake her head, "Nah. I'm not much a dog person."

****

. . .

I sigh as I stood in the crowd of several military personnel. "Um. . .Riley? What is your job exactly?" Hannah asks, looking around nervously.

Stiffening, I glance at her, "My job? What do you mean. . .I told you, a photographer!" She glares at me and I smile nervously, "Oh! You meant why we're here. . ." She nods like it's obvious, so I say, "The FullMetal Alchemist challenged The Flame Alchemist to a fight for his yearly assessment."

Hannah looks at me confused, "Yearly Assessment?"

I nod, "Yeah. In basic terms, it decides whether or not you're still worthy of your title. And a fight between you and another State Alchemist, like this, is one of the many ways."

She nods, but stops. Turning to me, she asks, "Wait, the FullMetal Alchemist? Isn't that Ed?!"

I mock realization, "Oh, my, gosh! It is, isn't it?!" Hannah rolls her eyes before glaring at me. "I cannot believe that it's Ed! Of all people-"

Interrupting me by covering my mouth with her hand, Hannah mutters, "Shut up. I didn't know, ok?" I nod stiffly, so she lets go.

Hearing footsteps behind us, and seeing several military personnel step aside, I glance behind us to see Mustang walking up. "Hannah! Go over there," I start as I point several feet away and off to our right, "and wait. I want to get a picture of the arena from this angle, and I'll come over."

She nods, and walks off, just as Mustang reaches me. "What are you doing here Ms. Mauler?" Roy asks, twitching slightly at the sight of me here.

I smirk and motion to the camera in my head, "Oh, just came to shoot some pics of the fight. I thought it'd be cool for Hannah and I to see Ed and Al again. . ." I smirk wider and say, "Plus I just really wanted to see you get your ass kicked by a 15 year old!"

He glares at me and I laugh as I walk toward Hannah. Standing next to her, I saw Hughes standing in front of a large wall.

"_Ladies and gentlemen_!" He shouts.

Hannah leans toward me and asks, "Who's that?"

"Majo- Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." I say, before turning my attention back to Hughes.

"_Take a look_!" He shouts into the microphone before pulling a rope. A large cover falls off the wall behind him, and my brow twitches at the sight of a picture of who else? Elysia. "Oh my gosh, she's so cute!" Hannah says under her breath. I look at my probable mentally challenged friend as if she were crazy, before trying to ignore the fact that another Hughes may have just been born in this crowd. During this, we managed to miss the probably hilarious moment that the wall decided to attack poor Hughes.

"_In the red corner, The Flame Alchemist, and hero of the Eastern Rebellion, Colonel Roy Mustang_!! _Give it up_!"

And guess what happened?

Much to my delight, everyone began booing. "You just want another promotion!" One shouts, causing me to bite my lip to stop my laughs from escaping. But then, someone else shouted, "Give me back my girlfriend!" That was all I could take. I suddenly burst out laughing, almost doubling over from the pain in my stomach that hit me instantly. Roy looked over at me, and only looked deadpan as he turned away.

"_In the blue corner, The FullMetal Alchemist and Living Legend of the People_! _Let's hear it for Edward Elric_!"

People booed at this as well, which just. . .wasn't quite as funny. Hannah and I looked to them, and saw Al holding of all things, a kitten. Beside Al, was Ed, who stood there grumpily. I then found out why he was grumpy when I heard people shout things like, "_Where_?! _I can't see him_!" or "_Grade school's more like it_!"

But then. . .The statement of doom. . ."_Good luck Bean-sprout_!"

Ed flipped, shouting profanities at the crowd as Al easily held him back. Giggling, Hannah says, "Figures." I nod amusedly, as their friends leave the arena.

"_Alchemists get set_! _Ready and fiiiiiggghhhttt_!!" Hughes shouts, running away quickly.

The fight was an interesting, and amusing one. Ed had his stupid moves (exploding at the word 'small'), but he also had his smart moments. Roy was cocky. Surprise, huh? And Roy attacked the crowd (at that time, I began wondering about how the crowd got bandages on their burns so fast more then how the fight would end.) I had a good laugh at Ed's expense when he went flying (and screaming) into the air, in which earned a slap in the arm from Hannah.

But the end was what interested me the most. Roy had a perfect opportunity to finish the battle, but then he just. . .froze! And because of that, Ed was able to put his auto-mail blade to Roy's throat. My only question, was what happened to Roy at such a crucial time? It was then the Furher stepped in, clapping as he did. "Come on, fight's over. If we leave now and wait for the rest to leave, we can see Ed and Al." I say as I start to walk away. Hannah nods and we both begin slipping through people to get out of the crowd.

****

. . .

"Let's go. . .this way!" I exclaim, running down a certain hall. I knew exactly where I was, hell I knew the HQ like the back of my hand. But Hannah didn't know I knew!

"Are you sure. . .?" She asks suspiciously as she turns the corner after me.

Ignoring her, I point at the two brothers walking down the hall, "There! There's Al!" Both brothers stop at my voice and turn, but I decide to pick fun of Ed. "Now we just have to find Ed!" I exclaim, smiling stupidly at Hannah, who merely shook her head at me.

Ed twitched slightly, but that just wasn't enough. I turn to Al and begin waving my arms wildly, "Hey Al! You got a microscope I could use?"

"Alright, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Ed shouts, running after me. I laugh as a crazed maniac as I run away.

****

. . .

"So where are you going now?" Hannah asks looking to Ed and Al. We were walking down a road, and it was around midnight. Al was still carrying the cat around.

Ed shrugs, "Rush Valley. Mustang said that's where Dr. Marcoh is."

Hannah and I nod. "And why are looking for this guy?" I ask curiously.

The brothers pause, causing me to smirk knowingly. "We think he has the stone." Ed says. Hannah looks at me confused, but I shake my head briefly. She'd find out when they told her, not me.

We all stop and Ed makes a cradle out of a box, putting the kitten inside. Al sighs sadly, and Ed says, "Sorry Al. But we can't keep it, and we can't expect Mustang to take it, not after he told us about Marcoh. It was a fair trade."

Hannah looks to me cutely, saying, "Can't we take him?"

I scoff as I stick my hands in my pockets, looking away as I did. "Not unless you want a snake in your face when you wake up on the train." Her eyes widen, getting the picture, before stepping away from the cat.

"Thought so."

* * *

**Did You Know? -** All of the military personnel (except Bradley) was named after a military aircraft made in around the Mid-20th centry, in which some were used during World War II.

**Alex Armstrong** - Great Britain's Armstrong Whitley  
**Roy Mustang** - America's P-51 Mustang  
**Fury** - FJ-1 Fury  
**Havoc** - Mi-28 Havoc  
**Hawkeye** - E-2 Hawkeye  
**Hughes** - P-73 Hughes  
**Black Hayate** - Japan's Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate  
**Bradley** - Though not named after an aircraft, he was named after something involving World Ward II. The man he was named after was the fourth officer ever to reach the rank of 5-star general in the Army, a promotion only possible during wartime.

And the OC Riley was named after a World War II aircraft as well.  
**Riley **- Martin AM-1 Mauler

_If you already knew all this, then...I knew it first!! XP_

Review, It Makes Me Want To Update. But Be Responsible! **Don't Flame And Drive**!


	5. Pyat! That's 5!

Hehe, next chapter! To those that reviewed on the fourth chapter that didn't recieve a reply, it was not your computer, or your imagination, and you did not say something wrong. I just felt lazy and did not reply to you. RELIEVE YOURSELF OF YOUR WORRY FOR NOT RECIEVING A REPLY! Ahem... Sorry. So, here it is!

**Moonlight-Arashi:** I know it wasn't... DX But I had to write it to get to this chapter. And plus, I kind of wanted to show Riley had a serious side at times.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!  
**The Lovely Daaaarlings That Reviewed Last Chapter:  
**Moonlight-Arashi  
Aqemy Von Stein  
Lauren26294  
xxxReadySteadyGoxxx

Want to get in this wonder **Lovely Daaaarlings** group? REVIEW. Bwahaha!

* * *

**The Sulfer Alchemist  
Chapter Five:  
**_The Power...Sucks._

I sat in my chair, staring at Mustang intensely. An arm rested on my knee with another on the arm rest, I continued to smack my gum loudly. This was my method of getting a job.

Annoy the shit out of your boss until he gives you something just to get you out of his hair.

And besides, I was wanting to get the hell out of this place. Who would want to spend more than a week in a big plain white building with a bunch of stiffs?

Roy sighed frustratingly, "Riley, I am _this_ close to burning you alive." I smirk and smack louder. His clenched fists were shaking, as he glared at his paperwork. Riza didn't bother doing anything. She figured the noise made him concentrate on his paperwork harder.

And I was sure that Roy really would burn me alive, but did I care? Of course not!

I mean, after all who wouldn't be pissed off with someone that tried to paint the walls to the _military HQ_ pink because it needed to be more fun? Or, someone that put itching powder in all the military uniforms so she could get people to dance?

Or my personal favorite, poured yellow food dye in the drinking water, and poured hot sauce in the bread mix?

Heh, fun times.

"Give me a job, and I will." I say simply.

Roy glares at me as he says, "Why don't you go to Rush Valley, then? Ed's going there. They could probably use your area of expertise."

Scowling, I stand. "Better than nothing, I guess." I mutter before leaving the office.

**. . .**

I walk into the hotel Hannah and I stayed in, and saw her sitting on one of the beds, reading a really good book. "I got a new job." I say as I plop down on the other bed.

Hannah looks up at me expectedly, "Where?"

Smirking at her, I show her a map of the world. I move my finger and once I figured it was on the right spot (the map wasn't facing me, but I knew where the location was), I stopped and pointed. "Rush Valley." Hannah sighs before grabbing my finger and moving it dramatically across the whole map.

"Rush Valley is on the completely other side, Riley." She remarks sarcastically.

I scoff, moving the map down so she could see the scoff. "Don't be picky." I retort. She rolls her eyes and I say, "Boss wanted me to snap some shots of the hills in Rush Valley. It's a coincidence, huh?"

_Real_ coincidence. Sometimes it seemed as though my lies were too close to the truth for comfort. Like this for instance.

She nods, "Do you think maybe I could see my family while we're there? I don't have to if you want me to tag along, but it's just. . ."

Throwing her an understanding smile, I say, "Don't worry about it! I'm sure I can handle myself with you gone for just one day Hannah. I'm not that hopeless."

She gives me an accusing look. Shaking her head, she says, "You thought Rush Valley was in Antarctica."

My brows furrow as I hold the map up, turning it to me. "Really?" I ask as I examine the map. Hannah only rolls her eyes and walks into the bathroom. "Give me some credit Han, at least **I** got the right map!"

"That was one time! One time Riley!" She shouts through the door, causing me to snicker.

I stood as I grabbed my bag, packing all my things for the trip. "So are you just going to walk after we get to Rush Valley or should we call someone to pick you up?" I ask as I opened the bag. I picked up my clothes that lay scattered along the ground as I wait for an answer.

"Eh, I'll just walk. It's an hour walking." She says. I throw the clothes in my bag, and walk toward the other pile of my clothes. But, of course, something had to happen, to make this story a little bit funnier.

My foot got caught in the covers, which were laying on the bed, and on the floor. "Eeeh!" came flying out of my mouth as I began to fall. I was amazingly able to stumble out of the covers.

But, this is me we're talking about. Would I really be able to get out of such a situation?

If you said no, bingo! That's correct!

Yes, I did stumble out of the clothes. But then I tripped on the pile of clothes that I was going to pick up in the first place. Landing with a loud thud on my stomach, I groan in pain as I pick my face up from the floor.

I was probably going to have a red mark on my face.

At the sound of the door opening, I look up and see Hannah standing there. The worried look on her face changed to dull when she sees me on the ground. "Riley?" She asks.

"Hannah?" I ask with a happy look on my face.

She sighs, placing a hand on her hip. "Did you just trip over your clothes?" She asks accusingly.

My eyes go wide a moment, but I scowl. "Pssh, no! I was just. . .checking the floor!" I exclaim with a wide smile.

"For what?" Hannah asks shortly.

I raise my eyebrows at her question, "What? For what. . .I was looking! For. . .Ants." I then smash my finger down on the ground in front of me, crushing an invisible ant.

"And you were smashing them with your face?" Hannah asks sarcastically. I pause, before nodding, still smiling stupidly. I chuckled a bit, but she only groans and shuts the door with a roll of her eyes.

I thought it was funny.

I rush up to my feet as I collect the clothes, mumbling dark words at them venomously as I planned my revenge on them.

Heh, I've always wanted to see what would happen if I turned them into flaming cannonballs...And threw them at people.

**. . .**

I kicked my feet back and forth as I counted each tree we passed. Yes, tree. And man, was it hard! But I was doing a great job at it, as I was at number 5,678, and it was still increas-

5,679.

5,680.

5,681.

Ok, what was I saying?

'_Oh no, I_ completely missed_ that tree_!' I thought as I slammed my face against the window as if it would make the tree come closer. No, literally, I **slammed** my face against the window...

5,682.

Well, we were on the train to Rush Valley. From what Mustang told me, we shouldn't miss the Elrics. After a while, I had actually started to _want_ to go to Rush Valley. It wouldn't be that bad to see that old man, Marcoh.

I continued to count, which quickly increased because we were passing a forest, when the worst of the worst for all counter people of the world around happened.

Hannah spoke.

"I wonder what my mom will say when she sees me standing on the porch!" She says with a wide smile. She glanced over to me, and her smile faded into confusion. Because, there I was sitting in my seat, staring out the window with wide eyes, my mouth open wide.

I began to tremble as I grabbed my head, falling to my knees. "NOOOOO!!" I scream, causing Hannah to fall out of her seat in shock, and everyone else to yelp in surprise. "I had counted so many too!" I whine.

"What?!" Hannah asks curiously, getting back in her seat as she tried to ignore all the stares.

But I only ignored my friend as I continued, "And we're so close to Rush Valley! There's no point in starting over. . ." Hannah blinked a few times, before making the decision to ignore me and my uncontrollable sobbing.

Hannah suddenly stood from her booth slowly, causing me to stop immediately and look to her. "Huh?" I mumble as I let my blue eyes follow her. "Riley. . .I don't remember what that man looked like. . .But is that. . .?" She asks lowly as she forced a smile and waved. I turn my neck to the direction she motioned to, and my jaws dropped. Sitting there, was of all people, Armstrong. He was waving at us with a huge smile on his face.

'_Damn you Armstrong! You're going to uncover my secret to Hannah!_'

"Uh. . .Just smile and wave, just smile and wave," I say, waving with a nervous smile. I stood and grabbed my bag as I slowly nudged Hannah out of the booth.

Hannah looked at me flabbergasted.

Hehe, that's a funny word...Flabbergasted.

"You're not making us go over there, are you?!" She asks in a rushed whisper, to which I only shake my head in response. I continued to nudge her backwards and, unnoticeably to Armstrong, reached the door. I slowly opened it and we inched our way to the bridge thing in between our train cart, and the next one.

Once we shut the door, Hannah and I dropped our hands and smiles, and fell to our knees huffing and puffing dramatically. "That was close! Why was he waving at us anyway?" Hannah wonders aloud as we stood back up. I shook my head, signaling I had no answer, and gripped the railing to pull myself up. Then, I thought about how Hannah and I must have looked, as we walked backwards, which huge stupid smiles on our faces, constantly waving our hands back and forth.

Giggling, I realized the neighbors in our train cart must have thought we were psychos ore something. First I scream out of the blue, and then we act like idiots in rewind. Hannah, of course, ignored my sudden giggling. She had gotten use to this a long time ago...

"But, I wonder why he's headed to Rush Valley... Did you see his pocket? He had a State's pocket watch. Maybe we should take a shortcut..." I trail off as I look over the railing to the ground beside us. Hannah looked at me curiously, so I add, "To warn Ed."

Hannah places a hand on her hip, "Why would we have to warn him? What's the big deal, maybe he's doing a routine inspection or something."

I shook my head. "No, from what I heard, he's too high in the ranks. He's a State Alchemist, why would they send him to do a routine inspection? I mean, if he was new and young or something, it'd make sense, but I heard he's been there for years. He was a part of the Ishbal Massacre, and that was seven years ago," I explain as I sit down, and let my legs fall in between the bars of the railing. Resting my elbows on them, I bite the inside of my cheek in thought.

Hannah let out a sigh as she sits down beside me. "So... What, you think he's going to keep an eye on Ed?" She asks, tucking her legs into a criss-cross postion.

I only shrug, "Maybe. Either that, or the military heard of what that Mustang guy did for Ed, and they're planning on bringing Marcoh in. Either way, I think we should warn Ed. Or at least distract Armstong long enough."

Hannah sighs, shaking her head. Turning her neck to look at me, she says, "Riley, you know I'm going to see my family. I can't help with this one." She sends me an apologetic look as she waited for a reply.

I nod, waving a hand at her dismissively before resting both hands behind my head. "I know, I know." Glancing from her to the ground before us again, I say, "Which means I'm going to have to warn Ed. And," I stop as I pull myself up by the railing. Smirking down at Hannah, I bring a leg over the railing before bringing my other leg with it. Standing right at the edge with a tight grip on the rail, I continue, "That means I have to take a shortcut."

Nodding slowly, Hannah grabs my bag. "Be careful," She says before holding the bag behind her. "One," She starts as she holds it back farther.

"Two," I add as I push myself against the railing, bending my knees a bit.

"Three!" We both shout as I push myself away from the rail. Landing with a loud "ow!" and a light thud, I push myself up from my side. Shortly after, my bag lands beside me, flopping a bit. I quickly look to the train and wave at Hannah as she got smaller and smaller.

Eventually, she got to the point where she looked like an ant. A pink, and black clothed ant, but an ant nonetheless.

I turn around to the trees and sigh, grabbing my bag. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I walk toward the woods. After finding a good tree to use, I jump into the air, grabbing a hold of a branch. I pull myself up so my waist was on the branch, and continuously push down. I heard a crack, and smiled wide.

That's when the power of physics hit me.

"Eek!" Came flying out of my mouth as I, and the branch, went falling to the ground. Pain shoots up through my knees as I land on them. I yelp and fall to my side, grabbing my knees as I spewed random words...

"Deer! My God MAN! Seize the day! Dear Lord! Mangoose! Mangoose isn't even a word, verdammit, I just made it up! It's NOT a word, right?! Ah, who really gives a shit! Polyester SUCKS! Never go home alone unless your with somebody! Ugh...!"

...Ahem.

I slowly got to my feet, still rubbing my sore knees. Putting a hand around one of my bag's straps, I sling it over my shoulder. I pick the branch up and begin to walk to another tree.

Stupid physics, and your no good laws of gravity... You always caused me pain..

**. . .**

After I had all the branches I'd need, I threw them all in a pile. I clap my hands and place them on the branches quickly. I had to hurry to warn Ed. It was the tree's fault! If stupid gravity and physics didn't have to apply then, of all the other times it could have in my life, I wouldn't have had to take a break just because my knees were hurting!

What? No, I'm not over it! I'm one to hold a grudge.

The branches join together and turn to a wooden rectangle. I sit down on the rectangle, and put my bag down in front of me. Opening the bag, I look inside. There wasn't much. Just stuff I needed. Camera, notebook, pen, spare clothes, Alchemy equipment, a metal cylinder, and a straw.

Don't ask.

I grab the metal cylinder and place it behind me on the rectangle. After clapping my hands, I place them on the metal. It slowly, yet quickly, changes into an engine. Making sure it was at the end, I clap and grab the straw inside my bag. It turns into a string and I tightly tie the engine to the rectangle.

Smirking and cackling evilly, I flip the engine on. And as soon as I did, it shot the rectangle forward, bringing me with it.

Then the power of _understanding how to DRIVE_ hit me.

I didn't know!

"**Eek**!" comes out of my mouth, for the second time that day, as the piece of wood carried me in zig-zag formation.

"**How the hell do you steer this piece of junk**?!"

* * *

  
**Ramblings -** Guess what phrase really rubs me the wrong way.

No, not "Are you pregnant?!"  
Not, "OMG, your hair's purple!" I quite like that one.  
Not, "Do you need some sort of...Help?"

This is the phrase that gets me, "Like Ed."

For those that don't understand, here are some examples:  
"(Insert OC's Name Here) wears a coat **Like Ed**'s."  
"(Same Above) doesn't need a transmutation circle, **Like Ed**."  
"(Same Above) is short, **Like Ed**."  
And Etcetera.

People, if that doesn't spell 'Copycat', what does? Don't do it because it's **Like Ed**, do it because you can, and because it shapes your character's life and personality. _Not_ because you want to make her a female version of Ed.

Ramblings, Done. Sorry if I offended. It's my opinion.

**Don't Flame And Drive**! _Rawr_.


	6. Sita! That's 6!

Oh my gawsh peoples, I am **so** sorry it took me so long!! But I had slight writer's block with this chapter! **AND** I ran outta funnies for it!! TT

On a (hopefully) lighter note, **I have pictures**! Yes peoples, the things everyone loves – Pictures. Hehe, I have tons too :3  
Five of Riley.(In case I supply a picture with a certain trait wrong, Riley is supposed to be very pale, with brown hair, and blue eyes.)  
Four of Hannah.(For the same reason above, Hannah is supposed to be a bit tan, with lighter brown hair, and grey-ish eyes.)  
Two of Riley's Dad.(I will give the link later on. So please don't ask for it just yet.)  
One of Riley's Mom.(Same as above.)  
One each of Hannah's Family.  
Now, if you want the link to a picture, either PM or email me. Both of which can be found on my homepage.

**KuramaKitty:** Tank yew! I'm glad you like my story!!

**Kaijukote:** Hehe, tank yew! I like Riley too, she's my favorite OC I've ever written. She wont be keeping secrets for _too long_. Hehe... Really? You're the first person to bring her past up, which is ironic, cause I was writing her past out(and planning it) when you sent this! And don't worry, her past will be revealed soon.

**Mandya1313:** Tank yew :3

**Aqemy Von Stein:** Thanks, I try to make them funny, but not ridiculously stupid where they can't think straight for anything. Thank you, I try! XD Glad you like Riley.

**Hitorijinsei3:** Thanks, I try to keep everybody's personality the same it is in the anime and manga. Ed can be hard sometimes, but I am a bit like Ed in a way, I just have to bring that out(not to mention my cousin is like Ed a lot and he will be living with us for a month, which will hopefully give me some brain power.) Hahahaha, I never looked at Riley as annoying before!

**XweaselxWolfx:** Yeah, I read it just recently! It's very good XD Update it soon, I'd love to see what happens next.

**BlueRyuu:** Hehe, I couldn't agree more, I'd love more reviews...X3 I'm glad you like the OC's xD

Whew, longest AN I've written so far...  
I Do NOT Own FMA. The Lovely Hiromu Arakawa Does, And I Am NOT Hiromu Arakawa. I Am Taylor (L/N Bleeped).  
Hiromu Arakawa Does NOT Own Riley, Hannah, New Plots, And Other New Characters. Taylor (L/N Bleeped) Does. She Is NOT Taylor (L/N Bleeped).

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
****Chapter Six:  
**_Ham Sandwiches and B&B's_

I stood at the sidewalk, staring at the map in my hands blankly.

I had no freakin' idea where I was.

Letting out a yell of anger, I rip the map to shreds. "WHERE THE HECK AM I?!" I shout as I throw the dead map to the grounds, stomping on all the pieces furiously. I didn't need them anymore, did I? I mean, they didn't help when I did need it.

Oh...Wait a minute...

"No! No! I need you, come back!" I shout as I bend to my knees, grabbing all the shredded pieces. People walking by eyed me strangely as I tried giving the shredded map CPR...

"Breathe, map, breathe!" I shouted, pumping on it's "stomach". But it became clear that the poor map was gone, and would be forever.

I would've given Mr. Map(not the most original name around, but hey, it needs something) a funeral, but I was currently lost, and a memorial speech would give me nothing, but a ticket to the Insane Asylum...

Although, by now it seems I should have already gotten one years ago.

A man begins walking by, so I jump up and grab the elbow of his shirt sleeve. "Sir!" I exclaim, causing him to stop and turn to me. "How do I get to the Train Station?" I ask. The man turned to me and both our eyes widened.

"Lance?!"

"Riley?!"

Lance was Hannah's brother. He was tall, and lanky, unlike his parents. His black hair was short, with uneven bangs, and a yellow streak was in the right side of his bangs. He had crystal blue eyes, and a soft smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, looking up at him.

"I was just visiting family. I was on my way to the train station, actually. Follow me," He answers, before walking around me. I immediately followed Lance.

**. . .**

"Where's Hannah?" Lance asks as we walked down the street. I was dodging everybody that had a look that said 'I'm Running You Over' on their face.

Did NOT want to know what would happen if I ran into them.

My face scrunched up as I squeezed past two bulky lumberjacks. "She went to see you guys," I answer, running to catch up to his side. For some odd reason, it seemed as though he wasn't in the middle of Rush-Hour on a street full of business men and women.

"Really? Guess college picked the wrong time to bring me back!" Lance muses, a small smirk on his face.

I looked up at him as I said, "Well she's coming back for Christmas, if that helps any."

Lance smiles, nodding at me a bit. "Eek!" Came out of my mouth as I narrowly dodge an oncoming motorcycle cop. "THANKS A LOT JACKBUTT! YOU NO GOOD, ROTTEN COP! OUTTA KICK YOUR ASS!" I shout, waving a fist angrily in the air at him. Behind me, Lance was laughing hysterically..

Outta kick _his _asstoo...

**. . .**

Finally getting to the Train Station, Lance and I exchanged goodbyes before I looked around my surroundings. I now knew how to get to Marcoh's.

"Ok...Take a left..."

"Now a right..."

"And go a little bit further.."

Once I stopped, I was at a small little intersection. "Oh no..," I mutter, forgetting which way I was supposed to go. But then I had a _wonderful_ idea, and didn't have to worry any longer.

Innie-Minie-Miny-Moe!

"...And you are it," I end, pointing to the left. So, clearly that's the way I went.

The roads were pebble and rock, the usual kind of road you'd expect in the country. Houses lined both sides of the road, all were regular sized – Not small, but not big either. Just right in size. I kinda liked it here. At first I didn't like this place, but only because of the people. This was the country, yet houses were next to each other like the city. I didn't really like that. But I soon got used to it(partly of my own free will to, and partly because Marcoh demanded I did.)

I continued to look around, seeing if I spotted any sign of a suit of armor, or a blonde kid. Hopefully I'd spot them before Armstrong – I had noticed back at the Train Station that my previous train wasn't there. I wasn't sure if they already came and went, or they were still on their way.

At the time I didn't really realize how long I was going. But when the sun started to go down, it kind of hinted it. And I was starting to get hungry.

Surprising, eh?

It was then I noticed the stand to the left. It looked out of place here, what with all the houses. It was the only building that wasn't a house on this road, it seemed. I was fine with it though, I didn't care if it looked odd.

Walking to the stand, I sit at a stool which was placed by the counter. A man was instantly in front of me, which made me assume they hadn't had business for a couple hours and he was just sitting there waiting for someone. It was kind of creepy, the over-excited smile on his face.

"Hi!" I exclaim with a dumb smile on my face. Minaswell be nice to Mr. Creepy.

The man gave a pearly smile, "Hello ma'am! Welcome to Deacon's BBQ. What can I get you?"

I bit my lip in thought, looking at the menu. "Hm... I don't know. Whatever's cheapest," I answer, handing him the menu. He gladly takes it and nods, rushing to the back to do whatever he was doing.

Not too much after, he came back out, but with a plate in his hand. He places it down in front of me, and I saw a sandwich laying there. "Alright, my favorite!" I shout, smiling a huge grin before biting into the delicious ham sandwich.

I hear footsteps and clanks behind me, so I turned my waist backwards to see what the source was. And what do you know? I saw Ed and Al walking down the path!

Hallelujah!

"Oh, wait!" I shout, pushing forward to get off the stool, only to go flying to the floor, still sitting on the stool, my arms flailing about in the air. Quickly, I stuck a foot out and landed on it, running off as soon as it hit the ground. The stool hit the ground with a bang.

"Hey, you didn't pay!" The man shouts, causing me to turn back and run to the counter. I slammed a handful of change on the counter and ran off again.

"**Wait**! Ed, Al!" I shout, running toward them as quick as my legs could let me go.

As I saw the brothers stop and turn to me, I smile wide, happy I didn't have to run anymore. "Great, I've been looking all over for you! Do you have any idea how hard it is to look for you two? Well, ya know, looking isn't that hard, it's the finding that's-"

"Riley!" Ed shouts, getting annoyed with my persistent rambling. "What are you doing here?" He asks once I shut up.

"Oh yeah," I start, "Well I thought I should tell you that a State Alchemist was on the train here. I knew you guys were here, so I figured he was coming to spy on you."

Once I say it aloud, it sounds pretty stupid...Maybe I should have just stayed on the train...

Ed and Al looked at each other with curiosity, which removed all doubts of me just being paranoid. "What did the State Alchemist look like?" Al questions.

"He was as big as you, Al! And he had these really pretty sparkles around his head when he waved at me... I think he remembered me from that match between Ed and that Mustang guy..." I say with a ditzy look on my face.

If I wanted to keep my cover of **not** knowing any Military Personnel, I had to play the part, right? _Riiiiight._

And it surprisingly wasn't that hard to play ditzy!

"Armstrong..," Ed mutters, before looking around the area quickly. "We need a hotel!"

**. . .**

"This is nice," I comment casually as we walked down the halls of the Bed and Breakfast. The floor was a paper white, and the walls were a peach color. It was definitely done by a woman. Al nods before we stop at a door with "18" written on it.

I was intrigued by the fact the number was eighteen. Every other time I stayed at a B&B, or a hotel, I always had a three-digit number... It seemed like there were no two-digit numbers.. Once I had gotten number one, but **never** a three-digit number. That was odd to me. Was this the only place that had three-digit numbers? Or did every place have them, they were just taken qui-

"Riley!" Ed shouts, bringing me back to reality.

"Nyeeah!" I shouted, jumping almost a whole foot into the air. After landing, and almost tripping in the process mind you, I glare at Ed as my chest rose up and down quickly. "What?!" I hiss.

The smirk on Ed's face was enough to drive me to murder, but I was able to resist.

...Ok, I was able to attack, Al was able to hold me back...

Ed continued to smirk as he said, "Just trying to bring you out of La La Land."

And me being the incoherent self I am, I just had to try and strangle Ed again while shouting, "OH I'LL SHOW YOU LA LA LAND!!"

Ed finally bust out laughing, and I gave up struggling against Al's grasp.

But I would never give up revenge. Oh, no...

**. . .**

"So...What exactly do you plan on doing?" I ask as I sat at the small round table in the room. It was close to midnight, and none of us were tired enough to sleep.

Ed shrugs, "Easy, just ask around for Marcoh until we find out where he lives in this town."

I could easily tell them where Marcoh is, but that was a little _too close_ for comfort. I mean, all the military personnel that knew me had been keeping my job a secret for years, they were used to it. Marcoh, on the other hand, didn't even know I was keeping my job a secret from Hannah. It was too risky.

"Makes sense," I state with a shrug.

"Where's Hannah?" Al asks curiously. Ed looks over at me for an answer, curious as well.

I began to stretch my arms as I answered, "She went to visit her family... They live an hour away from here, so she decided to go."

"She actually trusted you on your own?" Ed retorts, in which I responded with a glare. I let out a big yawn before plopping down onto my bed.

And the last thought that ran through my head before falling asleep was, "_Dear God, please don't let me fall off the bed..._"

* * *

Yeah, this was a bit short... Sorry! Hopefully I'll get out another chapter later today.

Here are more translations:  
"Vier! That's 4!" Vier is German.  
"Pyat! That's 5!" Pyat is Russian.  
"Sita! Tha'ts 6!" Sita is Swahili.

Oh, and the Game Plan for this story is for it to go all the way through the series, and if it's still got good reviews then, it'll go through the movie. But that's the PLAN. I don't always follow through with them. I need reviews for the motivation to follow through with that plan.

Another thing.. A reader brought it to my attention that this story implies Ed/OC, Al/OC. I actually had no intentions of that! It was written just Ed/OC... I didn't think about pairing Hannah with Al at all. So, it's up to you peoples. Should I make it Ed/OC, Al/OC? If so, I'm not doing it the same as most writers do it. Where the main OC's friend(Hannah in this case) starts dating Al in the 7th chapter, and they're making out on a couch. Sorry, that's not Al. If I do pair Hannah and Al, it'll be just as subtle as Riley and Ed.

Be Responsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.

On a side note, I actually fell out of my bed this morning.. Literally! And since I had a TV tray(with junk scattered on it) right beside the bed, I fell into that, causing it to topple over, the legs folding in on me, and all the junk to go flying across my room! I woke up _as_ I was falling, and had this searing pain in my back... I tried to keep sleeping, even after hearing all the junk fall and my dog barking, but then I realized, "OH SHIZNIT! I fell off the bed! Verdammit..."


	7. Sju! That's 7!

It's out!! Yatta!! Hope you guys like it XD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**BlueRyuu:** Great idea!! I've got a bit planned for it as it is, but I definitely can join them together somehow. Although, I'm not quite ready for them to find out just yet.

**Aqemy Von Stein:** Aw, thanks! I'm glad I made your day XD And thanks again, I would have gotten it out sooner, but like I said, I had slight writer's block.

**XxxReadySteadyGoxxx:** Ouch! Legos? That _had_ to have hurt. I've stepped on them and they hurt like a SOB. I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**Hitorijinsei3:** Referring to the fact you only review once usually, **Thank You So Much** for reviewing again!! And I agree 100 with you. Love doesn't seem to be in the air with those two. To tell you the truth, the character Hannah is based on a friend of mine... So(because of that), I just can't see it really. But it seems the majority of people that review like the idea. And yeah.. I think being awake while you fall is worse! Because you experience the pain as you fall and land.. Usually when you're asleep(when you're a heavy sleeper), you don't feel anything... Oooh, I spelled "Drei" wrong? Stupid language websites...

**TykiMickLover:** Thanks! I'm glad I made you laugh XD I'll be sure to continue writing! Thanks for your opinion on the Hannah/Al thing!

**XweaselxWolfx:** Really?! I like "shiznit" as well. Though "Verdammit" is my personal favorite XD (I'm a huge National Treasure fan, and, when Abigail Chase said it, I couldn't help but love it XP)

**Want To Join The Lovely Daaaarlings? Review!**

People-etts, I would like you all to know. This story _will_ have it's serious moments. I don't want the story to be completely random throughout the whole story. It's going to be hard to make jokes when Al gets kidnapped, for example. Or when Envy beats the shit out of Ed... Ok, that wouldn't be too hard, but you catch my drift! Oh, and since I have NO idea how they spell Marcoh's fake name, I'm just spelling it my way. Maroh.

Oh my gawsh peoples and people-etts! I actually... Change Point of View in this chapter! Wow... This is the first time for this story. I should celebrate!

...

I don't own FMA.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist:  
Chapter Seven:  
**_I, Riley Mauler, Accuse The Defendant, Edward Elric, Of Sucker-y_

"Argshulagastavy..." I mumbled incoherently(obviously) before moving around in my bed. My eyelids felt like bricks, so I didn't really want to open them. Letting out a small huff, I force my eyes open and ignore the slight pain from doing so. I was confused when I saw that the room was still dark(not counting the glow that shone through the window I insisted be open.)

I rolled onto my side to look at the clock and saw that it was five thirty. Moving my head to look at Ed, I noticed that he was laying on his back, snoring loudly. What I really noticed, though, was that his shirt was lifted a bit to show his stomach, which was raising up and down so drastically, you'd think he was a blow-fish. I almost bust out laughing, but I **had** to get something first.

Slowly climbing from the bed, I walked to my messenger bag by the wall. I walked to the table and grabbed my camera, holding it toward Ed. After focusing in on him, I snap a picture. Suddenly, rustling and movement is heard directly behind me. I immediately stiffened, staring straight ahead with wide eyes. No way was I turning around if it was a robber!

...I mean, yeah, I could kick his ass easily, but that doesn't mean I have to.

"What are you doing?"

Letting out a piercing scream, I dart across the room, hiding behind the bed Ed was in. Ed jumped up, now wide awake, looking from left to right. "What?!" He shouts, spotting me.

I peak above the bed to see Al standing there, his shoulders shaking as he chuckled. "You..," I growled before running across Ed's bed to tackle Al.

Which wasn't that great an idea considering Al was metal and I was sensitive flesh...

"Whoa!" Ed shouts as he grabbed my ankle, causing me to fall on the bed, face down. I began to jump back up, but he grabbed me by the waist, pulling backwards to hold me back from killing Al. "You'll only – get -"

We both let out a scream as somehow Ed managed to pull so hard, we ended up falling off the bed. He fell from sitting on the bed to landing on his back on the floor, with his legs still on the bed. I, on the other hand, fell straight backwards, my back hitting Ed's face and torso. He howled in pain as my back smashed into his face.

Al bust out laughing as I scrambled to the side to see Ed with red all over his face. His legs then slid from the bed and toppled over his head. "You ok, Ed?" I ask nervously.

"I'm gonna kill you..," Ed mutters. It came out a muffle, seeing as he was in a very painful position.

Laughing nervously, I state, "You know, having a temper like you do is very unhealthy!"

"You're one to talk!" He retorts in a slightly high pitched, slightly muffled voice.

**. . .**

"Hm..," I start as I walk down the line of food in the dining room. Ed was done grabbing what he wanted(seeing as he didn't bother to _look_ at what he picked up), and Al was playing with the B&B Owner's little daughter, Terri. I examined all the food in the dishes, grabbing what I liked and avoiding what I didn't. After carefully placing my food on my plate, I sat down across from Ed.

"One half of a grilled cheese and no cupcake? I figured you'd get one..," Ed comments casually, causing me to inwardly smirk.

Feigning a look of hurt, I exclaim, "What makes you think I like cupcakes, huh?" Before the confused Ed could respond, I say loudly, "Besides, even if I did like cupcakes I wouldn't get one! The Deserts Chef sneezed and didn't clean his hands."

Hearing the scraping of a chair, I look back in time to see another costumer drop her half-eaten cookie onto her plate before rushing off to the bathroom with a hand over her mouth. It was obvious she was listening to me. Once she was gone, I smirked a crazy smirk at Ed before pushing myself back in the chair. It leaned against the girl's table, and I grabbed the untouched cupcake sitting on her plate as well.

I sat back down normally dipped a finger into the icing. "The power of suggestion rocks!" I say casually before eating the icing, which the cupcake was unusually smothered in.

"You couldn't have just gotten one up at the line?" Ed asks, even though he looked clearly amused.

As the janitor comes by to clean the woman's table, I answer him. "You're seriously suggesting I pay five dollars for a cupcake? Besides, this one has more icing than the others."

Ed's face considerably paled, "Wait... Y-you mean... We're paying for our meal by the food?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah... Well, the food we actually eat off our plate."

"But I paid for the plate already!" Ed protests.

"Yeah, that's why I only got the grilled cheese, and not the cupcake. You have to pay for the plate, then all the food you eat from it," I explain simply.

Ed quickly pushed his plate(still full of food) away from him while muttering, "Not hungry anymore..." He glanced at the food with a look that said, "Ignore the temptation," before standing. "I'm going to go pack..," He says stiffly before leaving the dining room, as I watched him confused.

Once he left, the confusion in my eyes turned to victory. I chuckled evilly, grabbing his plate and pulling it toward me. "Come to mama..," I mumble lowly as I grabbed a piece of the chicken on his plate.

Who knew Edward Elric was such a sucker?

Heh...

**. . .**

I walked into the room as I pat my stomach calmly. "I am so full!"

"You only had a grilled cheese and a cupcake, didn't you?" Al asks, looking up at me.

Ed snorts with his hands behind his head, "You must have a puny stomach."

As I sat on my bed, I smirked into space. "It was a really good grilled cheese," I say with light chuckles. Ed looked at me funky, but shrugged it off.

"Riley, I've been meaning to ask you," Al starts, catching my attention, "What do you do exactly? For your job..."

I smile, "I didn't tell you? I work for the magazine that's supplied throughout Amestris Military Headquarters."

Ed looked intrigued at this, "So you work around the military, huh?"

I nod at his question, and stand from the bed. "So are we ready to go or what?" I ask impatiently.

Ed shrugged, "We were waiting on you." I rolled my eyes as we stood. Grabbing my camera and throwing the strap around my neck, I tossed my bag-strap over my shoulder and we leave the building quickly. "Keep your eyes open for Armstrong, guys," Ed reminds us.

"um, guys?" I ask uncertainly. I had decided to tell them about Marcoh. It seemed right, and I would only tell them that the man taught me basic alchemy. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.

Seeing Ed and Al stop and turn to me only made me nervous. "Yeah?" Ed asks.

I rubbed the back of my neck before saying, "I kind of... Know Marcoh. He taught me the basics of alchemy. He goes by the name Maroh here."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Al asks. I was relieved when Ed didn't look angry, but curious.

"Well.. I don't know. I can't remember where he lives, and besides, you didn't ask," I explain.

Ed nods, "Well at least you told us before we ran around town looking for him by his real name." he stuffed his hands in his pockets before walking ahead.

Al and I shared confused glances. It seemed as though Ed would have acted... Differently. We shrugged it off and followed Ed down the road.

**. . .**

We had asked several people where Marcoh lived, and they either forgot, or gave us crappy directions. We were now smack in the center of town, passing by everyone with a glare on their face silently.

Out of all the chatting between everyone, I couldn't hear much. But when they started whispering about someone, I was able to notice the slight different. Stopping in my tracks, I looked up and paled when I saw a certain State Alchemist walking around.

"Guys? We've got company..," I say, looking back at him.

Ed and Al stopped, looking around for him. It didn't take long(obviously), as they spotted him not even a minute later. "Shit!" Ed mutters, before running off. "Let's go!" He shouts, disappearing into the crowd. Al and I struggled to follow the kid, but here's the thing.

Ed's short.

_Real_ short.

So when he, Short Ed, runs through a crowd of people of normal height... It's kind of hard to _see_ him. The result of this? One gets lost.

One then gets pissed.

And when that one is me?

_Baaaad_ combination.

"Ed, wait up! You're short, I can't see you!" I shout throughout the crowd, looking around. It was then I realized the suit of armor we call Al was not at my side. And when Ed shouted nothing, I knew I was truly lost in the sea of people.

Oooh shit.

**With Ed and Al  
**_(Who Were Magically Able To Reunite While Riley Was Off Emoing About Not Finding Them)_

Ed and Al were finally able to free themselves of the center of Rush Valley, and were a safe distance away from Armstrong. The only problem?

Riley was now missing.

The brothers would have gone to search for the girl, but they had to find Marcoh. It was the top priority. And, if she had been here before, she'd probably find her way to them. And luck was apparently on their side, seeing as Ed and Al were now standing at the doorstep of "Master Maroh".

Ed knocked on the door cautiously, shooting a glance to Al, who merely shrugged in response. The door swung open, and two gunshots rang through the area, in which Ed and Al dodged as quick as possible. Standing there in the doorway was Doctor Tim Marcoh, a gun in hand. Ed wasn't sure which scared him more, the fact the gun was shaking, or the fact the gun was pointing at him and his brother.

"Easy doc... We just want to talk!" Ed claims, his hands raised to his head as Al huddled behind him.

"I know what you want," Marcoh argues, "You're a State Alchemist. You think you can take me back there!"

Al stood a bit, as Ed could only think, '_Riley was taught by this guy?!_' "So you _are_ Tim Marcoh! The Crystal Alchemist," Al concludes.

Marcoh only ignored Al, "I'm not going back to that place!"

"That's not it! We just want to talk," Ed says. Quickly shooting a look to Al, he mutters, "I see where Riley gets her hard head.."

The grip Marcoh had on the gun loosened at the sound of Riley's name. "Riley? Riley who?" He asks, just for confirmation.

Ed and Al had a new hope that, if they died that day, it'd be by Riley's temper instead of Marcoh's gun. "Riley Mauler..," Ed answers warily.

Marcoh soon lowered his gun, and sighed. "If you're a friend of Riley's..." He stepped back a bit, and let the brothers in. They quickly walked in, as if he would shut the door on them if they didn't, and Marcoh walked to the counter. "Tea?" He asks calmly.

Ed and Al sat down at the table, and shook their heads. "No thanks," Ed mutters.

"Before I go into explanation of what happened all those years ago, how is Riley?" Marcoh asks.

The older Elric gasps slightly, "She's fine..."

"She's going to get herself into a lot of trouble one of these days... Associating with the military," Marcoh says with a bitter smirk on his face. Ed, assuming he meant the magazine, nods mutely. "I told her not to get involved with them.. But who is she to listen to me? Heh, when she first started that magazine there Roy wanted her to become a State Alchemist, said she'd be a good asset to the military."

Ed and Al looked shocked at this, but Marcoh continued, "Roy still thinks that, probably."

"We ran into her a couple times while we were doing our jobs," Ed brings up, smirking down at the table.

Marcoh chuckles, "She has a habit of doing that. Showing up at the most dangerous times. She doesn't seem to care though. One thing she got from her father... But that's what makes her so great at what she does. I hate to admit it, but she seems good for a St-"

Before he could end the sentence, however, someone had knocked quite loudly on the door. Everyone fell silent, as Marcoh stood. He grabbed the gun and cautiously walked to the door.

**In The Mind Of Riley  
**_(Brace Yourselves)_

Well, after _Ed and Al_ got lost, I decided to just head to Marcoh's.

Which was hard considering after I got out of the crowd of people, I was _exactly_ where I was when I ran into Lance. So, I had to find my way back into the center of Rush Valley, and head to Marcoh's. And here I was, standing at his door. After two hours. As you can imagine, I was pissed. But I decided to hold it in(for once).

I knocked on the door loudly, and waited for a response. The door opened quickly, and the first thing I saw was the barrel of a gun in my face. "Ye-aaaaaaah!" I shout, jumping back about 4 feet, my knees bent, with my arms in my face in an "X" formation.

Placing my hands out sidewards, I stand up a bit. "Put the gun down, man!" I shout dramatically, staring at Marcoh with wide eyes.

I was NOT dying by the hands of my teacher!

"Riley..!" Marcoh says, lowering the gun immediately.

I nod, then notice Ed and Al behind him. "Riley, you're ok!" Al exclaims.

"Oi, you two! Leaving me back there like that!" I shout, completely ignoring how relieved Al seemed to be that I was alright. I stomped toward the two, cracking my knuckles.

"R-Riley... Calm down... We were going to look for you if you didn't show up here..."

"No excuses shorty! You left me for dead!"

"You're in Rush Valley Riley, not No Man's Land!"

"I don't think it would have made much difference, _Edward_!"

* * *

Hehe, I got a new chapter out a day later than hoped, but sooner than expected, so it's all good!

For those that don't know, "No Man's Land" is a term used in the military. When you're fighting, there's a land in the middle between enemies called "No Man's Land". It's called that, because _anyone_ that steps into No Man's Land is shot down instantly, because the land is so open and vulnerable.  
(I'm a history geek, I know.)

To all the people that reviewed, I am SO grateful! You are the best reviewers I've ever had, hands down. A man once said, "I can live off of one compliment for five months."

Review! But Be Responsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	8. Delapan! That's 8!

Hello peoples and people-etts! I'm back! Sorry it took long, my cousin's been here for the past two weeks.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**muffnbootz**: XDXD Yatta! I'm glad you like it!! I updated! (--')

**Kaijukote**: To all the questions you asked, my answer is: Maybeh, maybeh not. XD I'm so glad I managed to make people even more confused! XP Glad you like it!

**Mandya1313**: Thanks, glad you like it :D

**Hizakata Ayame**: Aye aye! I'm glad you find it entertaining xD

**pirategirl393**: Yayz! That's awesome. I'm hoping to do more of this kind soon. And yeah, I have another story posted at the moment... But it sucks(really.. It does. I started writing it two years ago. No writing experience.) And what do you need help with? You're an anon. Viewer, so I don't know how to get to it..

**xHinata Uchihax**: TANK YEW!! I'LL BE SURE TO KEEP WRITING XD

**xWeaselxWolfx**: Really? Which pokemon game? I like one of the older ones on Nintendo 64. It is pure awesomeness.

**Momoka**: Thanks! Yeah, she is isn't she (big smile)? Yeah, I try to make it funny... Sometimes it just kind of works into the story. Thanks again, I'll keep writing XD and it's ok. I reply to everyone here, so it's not too big a deal!

**Hitorijinsei3**: Oh... It is? Eh well.. Yep, that's Riley's teacher. LOL, I don't think he's too boring. Maybeh for Riley, though... With her short attention span and all! Scar...? Uh, yeah, I know exactly what I'm gonna do!... (nervous laughter)

**BlueRyuu**: He almost said something! Yeah, he knows. He was about to, but Riley stopped him just in time...

**TykiMickLover**: Lol, he's only as spazy as he was in the anime XD And... Yeah... I think it's a word... According to OpenOffice it's not though... Eh... Haha, I'd get lost too! I'm pretty short as well...

**waver-chan**: Thanks, I'm glad you like it :D

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Wanna hear something weird? ... My mom likes FMA! It's the only show I watch that she doesn't, that she wants to know about... Plus, she actually sat there with me, in MY room, watching the FMA movie with me... Hehe xD

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Eight:**  
_Another Serious Chapter! Oh Noes..._

I tapped my foot on the floor repeatedly as I rested my chin on my hand, a big bright smile on my face. Ed had bruises on his. So as you can imagine, I kicked his ARSE! Oh yeah, I did, boo-yah! Ahem...

We all sat at a table, listening to Marcoh talk about the Ishbal War. Well, Ed and Al were listening.

I was tuning out and dreaming of kicking Mustang's ass... But it didn't turn out too good, because he roasted mine before I could stuff him in the trunk and push the car down the hill...

Suddenly hearing Ed slam his hands on the table, I immediately jumped in my seat, looking around furiously for the sign of trouble. Which I didn't find. "I'm a ranking State Alchemist! I have a right to that research and anything else you know!" Ed exclaims angrily.

"You're way too small for these concerns," Marcoh states. Instantly Al was holding the fuming Ed back, as I snickered in the background. "You were blinded by the access to the research, weren't you? Fool. If you entered during the rebellion, you'd feel the same way."

Ed turned serious again, "I know. I know it's stupid, ok? It's not your problem!"

Marcoh looked down at the table, his hands clasped and in front of his face. Ed began to talk, but Al beat him to it, "Dr. Marcoh... Five years ago, you treated some babies in Xenotime... I just want you to know they're fine now. The red water's gone."

What the hell was he talking about? I had no idea, of course, but said nothing. I looked to Marcoh to see him surprised.

Marcoh was silent, but a glance toward the wall sent Ed running in that direction. "Ed!" I shout as he claps and places them on the wall. A hole appears, and we all saw tubes of red placed inside.

"You don't need circles..?!" Marcoh mumbles, shocked. The air was thick, but I was the one to lighten it all.

After sliding in between the wall and him, I glare. "Bad Eddie! Baaaad Eddie! No liver treats for you young mister!" I shout, pointing a finger at his face and waving it back and forth.

Ed glared at me before pushing me to the side, shouting, "Move Riley!"

"Well," I start, offended, as I stand off to the side with hands on my hips. Ed ignored me and picked up a tube as I continued, "Looks like _someone _needs obedience lessons!" Ed glanced at me to send me a glare, but then turned back to the tube.

"Is this the red water from Xenotime..? No, it couldn't be, it's clearer," Ed mumbled to himself, looking at the tube.  
Marcoh reached forward, protesting. "Brother!" Al exclaimed, walking forward. He grabs Ed, and picked him up. I had to admit, it was quite funny seeing Ed kicking his feet back and forth. I laughed as Ed shouted different things, telling Al to let him go. Finally, he stopped, but only for a moment to glare at me, "Shut up Riley..."

I looked away and started to whistle innocently as Ed struggled again. "Brother, this is wrong!" Al said over Ed.

"He's on to something!"

"Ed!"

"Let – me – go!" Ed shouted, throwing a tantrum while being held by his brother. I noticed the tube slip from his hands, and we all watched as it broke, meeting the floor. I walked over and bent down to it, examining the now solid red material.

"It's solid..," I exclaim, touching it gently. I winced as it stung my fingers a bit. "What the..?" I mumble, looking to my fingers. They were a pastel blue. I could only guess it was because... Um, we'll get to that later!

Al dropped Ed, who rushed over to look at the stone also. He stops and bends down next to me, just as I quickly curled my fingers into a fist. After slipping on my black leather gloves I found in the pockets of my cargo shorts(which I really had no idea how they got there considering my pockets were empty on the train ride), I pick it up, and flip it over, to see if it would fall back to liquid if moved too much. Seeing it stay in it's solid form, I hand it to Ed, who takes it interested.

"It's not liquid," Ed murmurs.

Twitching, I glare at him, "Yep, that's the definition of solid!" He shook his head at me as he placed the stone back in my hand, and suddenly the door is swung open.

Our heads snapped in the direction, and I paled seeing Frank Archer standing there.

Which wasn't good for any of us, I suppose. But it was really bad for me, considering my little... "past" with Mr. Archer...

Archer stepped to the side, and Basque Grand walked in, naming off the different nicknames for the stone. "Did you really think a substance of so many names would be limited to just the form of a stone?" He questioned as he walked over and snatched the stone from my hand.

"Hey-!" I begin to protest, but Archer was quick to react.

He grabbed the collar of my jacket and shoved me back, glaring at me, "Watch it girl..."

I yanked myself free, and glared angrily, shouting, "Hands off pal!"

His eyes narrowed as he asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

He didn't know me! Hallelujah! I was free! "Er... No, I don't communicate with scum!" I shout, biting my cheek in nervousness.

Glaring at me, he stepped toward me, but Ed got in between us. Literally. "Brigadier Grand..." Ed trails off.

"Brigadier Grand? Basque? Well, you've wormed your way up," Marcoh states with a smirk.

We all look over at Marcoh. "You're damn right Crystal Alchemist. And now you'll turn the Philosopher's Stone and your research over to me," Grand says, causing Ed and Al to gasp.

"The Philosopher's Stone? That thing?!" Ed asks.

All of a sudden, Archer exclaimed, "I remember you now, you brat!" My shoulders immediately tensed up as my eyes went wide.

"Wh-what? I... I don't know what you're talking about!" I say, stepping back a bit. He marched forward, and ignored Ed being in the way as he grabbed me by the arm. "Hey!" I shout as he drags me to the door.

"Leave her alone, she didn't do anything!" Ed shouts, rushing toward them, but was stopped by Grand stepping in the way.

Now, we've been through enough chapters that you know me well enough, right? I'd like to think so. So, what do you think I did? Just... Sit there and let him drag me? Or attack him?

Either way you're wrong!

As he dragged me by my lower arm, I continuously "karate chopped" his arm. "You'll never take me alive, copper! RAPE!! I refuse to follow you, you two-faced dimwit! Let me go!" I shouted as he pulled me out the door.

He let go and pushed me back so he could glare. "You're that Mauler rat that tried to blab about me in the news!"

"Now now, tried being keyword Frankie-"

"Don't call me that!" he shouts angrily. "I should arrest you right where you stand-"

I interrupted, "For what?! Telling the truth?!"

He smirked. "For assaulting an officer," He answers smugly.

"I didn't assault you! You assaulted me! I could have you arrested!" I exclaim, pointing from him to me, to him again. Smirking, I ask, "But that'd ruin your record even more wouldn't it?"

The intense glare he sent me sent shivers down my spine. He stepped forward, and just as he raised his hand to slap me, and just as I flinched back almost unnoticeably, the door was swung open yet again. Archer stopped dead in his tracks, and the sounds of Ed and Al gasps reached us.

Archer glanced over to his side and saw Grand standing there, with two solders behind him that had a hold on Marcoh. "That's enough, Archer," Grand says firmly.

The pale man stood straight, and pulled at his uniform, "Sorry sir. I was just.. She needed to be put in her-"

Grand walked toward Archer, and stopped beside him. Glaring at Grand, he muttered, "Her place? She's a State Alchemist, Archer. If you hit her, she'll have you arrested in no time, especially with witnesses."

I glared at Grand, as they walked past me . Ed and Al rushed to my side and as I glared at the backs of the two officers that dragged Marcoh away, Ed grabs my arm. "Did he hurt you?" He asks seriously, a frown on his face.

Shaking my head, I mumble a low, "No." Before heading after them.

"What's going on?!" I shout over Marcoh's protests at them.

Grand barely paid me any attention, as he said, "He's being taken back to Headquarters. Where he's supposed to be."

I scowled as I watched beside Ed and Al. It was painful watching my teacher, and my guardian, being dragged away by the same exact people I worked for. A little ironic. With everything Marcoh shouted, it got harder to watch. I knew I could either run now, or get Marcoh free, then haul ass. So, I knew how to decide.

Innie-Minnie-Miny-Moe of course!

...Wrong time?

Well, I decided to get Marcoh out. By the time I had decided this, the car was driving away. Instantly, I began running down the steps. Skipping the last two, I land on the ground and run after the car. "Riley!" Ed shouts, and before I knew it, Ed was at my side.

The car suddenly stopped, which made Ed and I do so also. "What's going on up there?" I ask, more to myself than to Ed, who shakes his head. The car began to glow red, which shocked us both. What shocked us even more, was when it exploded. By now, Al was with us.

We ran toward the scene, and as the dust calmed down, we saw Grand and Marcoh on the ground. In front of them, was a tanned man walking toward them. He was clad in black pants, a white T-shirt, and a yellow jacket over it. He had on dark sunglasses, and a white X-shaped scar was on his forehead. Ed and Al had no idea who he was, but I did. I had wrote about him in the Military's Newspaper.

It was Scar.

I paled slightly as he spoke to Grand. "Finally. The Iron-Blood Alchemist," He said.

"Your timing's too bad. Just as I got my hands on this," Grand said smugly as he swiped the stone out of his pocket. In an instant, Scar was in front of Grand. His hand on Grand's forehead.

My eyes went wide as my feet took control. Personally, I really didn't like Grand, but I had an advantage in this case. Scar had no idea I was a State, considering the fact I kept it on the down-low, just being between certain Military Officers. And only the military knew about the paper. As far as Scar was concerned, I was merely this chick traveling with the Elrics.

Running toward them just as Ed shouted at Grand to run, I reached forward to grab Grand. Before I could get very far, Ed grabbed a hold of the back of my shirt. Pulling me backward, he wrapped the arm around my torso, to keep a hold of me while I struggled. Snapping my eyes shut, I turned my head to the left, just as his hand glowed red.

The brothers let out a loud gasp as Ed subconsciously tightened his grip. Normally, I would have liked to see a head explode, but this was an officer of the same military I worked in. No matter how much you don't like a fellow officer, you _don't_ want to see them dead.

Ed was frozen, I could tell. I'm surprised I wasn't frozen either. "Go..," I muttered to Ed, pushing him a bit to "unfreeze" him. "We have to go!" I added. Neither of us moved, though. Al was several feet behind us, frozen in his spot as well.

I almost forgot Marcoh, when Scar turned to him. "Crystal Alchemist... I thought you were dead," He stated, "I'll have to take special care. Wash you out of this world for your transgressions."

It was then I decided to go numb, which was most definitely the wrong time to. "I see... Yes, go ahead." His words brought movement back to my limbs.

"You idiot!" I shouted. And as Scar rose his hand to Marcoh's head, I lunged forward.

"**RILEY**!"

* * *

Hehe... That's it for today! Yes, I'm so evil! Thanks to those that review.

You know what peeves me a little bit? (Yes, another rant... But you know you love it!)  
People that talk when I'm watching TV. I don't care what you've got to say! If I did, I'd have the damn show on mute! At least wait till a commercial, then I'd actually listen. My cousin does this a lot. And every night that we've watched the olympics, he'll just start rambling about what America's the best in. I don't care if we've got the best in Basketball, we're watching swimming, what the hell? Jeez... It's so annoying, because you just want to smack them on the head, but if you do, you'll just have to hear them complain about that!

For the heck of it, I give you preview.

_On The Next _'The Sulfur Alchemist'_...  
_Riley. X3  
Fighting  
Chapter Translations  
More Fighting.  
Confession.  
_Ooooooh.  
_X3

Oh, look! I made an arrow X3

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	9. Neuf! That's 9!

!-- page size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in P margin-bottom: 0.08in --

Yayz! I updatesded. Wow, new word! Hehe...

This chapter may not have the most original content(as in amount, not quality) as the others, but I liked what was in the episode, and I didn't want to stray too far. But I think it's got enough original content to keep you interested. Hopefully.

Strange... I could have _sworn_ I had something important to say.

Um... Ugh, whatever. I've got a new story up on FictionPress. That wasn't what I was wanting to say, but whatever.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**FreeCream:** Thanks! And I agree. My grandma always does that, starts going on and on about something during CSI, always the critical moments too! And my mom does that sometimes... Not even ten minutes in, she'll say, "It was " And the whole episode is ruined, because she's always right DX Really? I didn't know... That IS cool XD Wonder why that was added into the olympics... DUCKIE!! (runs after duck)

**BlueRyuu:** Ahhh, sorry about that! But no, she's not busted yet. But soon, little one, very soon... Ahem...

**TykiMickLover:** LOL, really? Well you know what they say, "Duct Tape fixes everything!" If you haven't heard the saying... Well... It's mostly said in the South. I _would_ have done it to my cousin, but I'd probably get in trouble, for being "rude". Psh...

**Aqemy Von Stein:** I'm so sorry you missed chapter seven! But thanks for reading Seven, I know some people would probably just skip it! **THANK YOU SO MUCH**!! That was what I was aiming for with Riley!! To make her funny, yet not stupid. I've read so many fanfics where the OC is funny, but is also just plain stupid.. I hate that.

**Hitorijinsei3:** Most definitely, I use Innie-Minnie-Miny-Moe all the time XD And the whole thing with Archer is revealed in this chapter, so... Yeah, I wasn't wanting to make it a big ordeal that lasts several chapters. And with the military thing... She started off writing journal articles for the military, but a little while later(and with the persuasion of Mustang), she took the State Exams. She still writes the news to make her cover more realistic(like, say Hannah went snooping, she'd actually find a news article by Riley and would "know" Riley was telling the "truth".)

**3Luna21:** Hah, I'm glad they make you laugh!! I know... The arrow's beautiful, isn't it?! It's probably going to go in the Louvre someday... I'm so proud XD

**xWeaselxWolfx:** Thanks about the arrow XD And really? That's pretty cool! But to be honest, I'm more into the old Pokemon than the newer stuff. The last Pokemon game I played was one on Nintendo 64(so that should tell you something right there!) and the last Pokemon episode I watched was actually the second movie...

**The Elemental Alchemist Reyna:** I'm sorry, but I don't watch it... I'll look it up on youtube and check it out, then I'll read your story, ok? Because I'd hate to miss out on a new OC story! And thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**Muffnbootz:** Mwahahahaha, I have one twisted, sick, sense of humor... And how'd you know about the penguins? o.O?? ...I UPDATED, SEE? Now gimme the marshmallows! Rawr!

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I don't own FMA. DO NOT OWN. I do own my original content. DO OWN. That, boys and girls, is a disclaimer!

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Nine:  
**_The Mystifying Hands and Armstrong's Super Ears!_

Silence.

I stood in between Marcoh and Scar, on my left knee as my right leg stretched outward.

I was hand in hand with Scar.

Red light surged from his arm to his hand, which traveled around my own hand. But that was where it stopped. The light just continuously moved around my hand before disappearing into it. And all I felt was a bit of heat as result. Glancing up from my hand to Scar, I noticed through the sunglasses that his eyes were just as big as mine and his pupils were just as small. I couldn't help but let my jaw drop a bit.

Scar quickly jumped back away from me, and as I fell onto my butt, my hand fell limply into my lap. I was too shocked to move. "What... The... Hell?" I mutter, and judging by the looks on everyone's faces, they were wondering the exact same thing.

"Who are you?" Scar asks, looking straight at me. Finally I was able to get movement back to my limbs, and I looked down at my hand.

It wasn't even burnt...!

"_Who_ are you?" Scar asked more firmly, glaring down at me as if I was poison.

Still numb, I looked up at him. As I opened my mouth to answer, Ed shouted, "Don't answer to him!" My head jerked a bit, surprised at the voice. In all honesty, I forget he and Al were even there. Before I could look at him, I felt myself being thrown over someone's shoulder. Judging by the fact I felt very uncomfortable, I knew it was Al. And also because I was up higher than three feet...

Anyways, as I moved up and down a bit by Al running, I looked over my shoulder to see Ed dragging Marcoh. "Leave me Ed!" Marcoh shouted at Ed as he tried to let himself go, but to no avail.

"You're _both_ suicidal idiots!" Ed shouts, not looking back, as he sped up.

My eye twitched a bit as I glared at him. "Hey, I was just trying to save _somebody's_ ass from getting a side of baked brains!"

"FullMetal Alchemist! You won't escape either!" We heard Scar shout.

I look back ahead of me, and pale. "Oh shit," I mutter before looking back over my shoulder. "SPEED IT UP!!" I shout angrily. After a quick second, Al passed Ed and we were now in front of Ed and Marcoh.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Ed retorts.

Shaking my head, I shout back, "WELL THAT'S NOT FAST ENOUGH!! GET THOSE PUNY LEGS WORKING!"

That did it.

In no time, Ed was almost as quick as a cheetah. "**If we survive this, I'm killing you**!" He shouted, glaring straight at me.

Paling instantly, I shout dramatically to Al, "_Run for your life, Alphonse_!" Al then proceeded to haul-ass down the road. Some seconds later, Al turned down an alley, and put me gently down. "So now what?" I ask, resting on the ground.

"Now we wait for Brother," Al says, sitting down beside me. A handful of awkward minutes went by, when Al asked, "Riley... What happened back there?"

I shook my head, thinking about it also. "I don't really know," I said simply before hearing footsteps. "They're coming!" I whisper to Al, who nods and draws a circle on the wall quickly.

Al peeked out from the wall and waved at Ed and Marcoh, "Brother, this way!" Ed turned and dragged Marcoh into the alley we were in. Al placed a hand on the wall and rock extends, blocking the alley entrance off.

Not even five seconds later, red light shines through the wall and we quickly cover ourselves as the wall explodes, leaving a gaping circle and Scar standing in the middle of it. "What a great plan that was!" I mumble as I lean backwards out of instinct. Al scooped up Marcoh and the three of us darted off again when we saw Scar step toward us. As we ran, I noticed red light shoot by us. The others seemed to notice it too. It hit the ground, and rock blocked the area off, trapping us in a tight situation.

"Who in the hell are you?! What are you coming after us for?!" Ed shouts, glaring at Scar. Obviously Ed doesn't read my article.

Scar was quick to reply, "You're the creators of this society. There must also be destroyers."

"You can't understand! Please, leave me and run!" Marcoh pleads, looking at Ed and me. Ed clapped and transmuted a pole into a sharp... pole. Al nodded at him, and got into a fighting stance.

"Stay by Marcoh, Riley," Ed stated lowly, to which I sighed but did so anyway. Even though I could have taken him.

I could've! ...If I wanted to...

Looking at Ed, Scar stated, "You have a kind look in your eye. My older brother's were exactly the same. Eyes that were strong, and peered into the endless distance as if seeing something you could not. It was three years ago, yes? I was glad you resigned from being a State so I could take you off my list, but now..."

"Yeah, now. Too bad isn't it?" Ed interrupted with a smirk before running toward Scar. Quite dumbly, might I add.

Scar dodged to Ed's right and reached his hands out to Ed, "Too slow."

"Ed!" I shout, just as Al did the same. Al ran forward and blocked the attack, which sent Ed to the floor on his stomach. I was going to run forward, but Marcoh grabbed my arm.

Looking back at him, I saw him shake his head. "Don't interfere unless absolutely necessary," He says. I sigh and look back at the brothers. Al's arm was dented because of Scar.

"Don't mistake your fortune. That alchemy was designed for human flesh, that's why you escaped with only a _dent_. This time. Stay out of this!" Scar exclaimed. "My only enemies are State Alchemists and those who stand in between."

Ed shouted, "But why?! What do you have against State Alchemists?!"

"Alchemists take things from their natural form and change them into something grotesque. They claim they have a better design than God. I've become as a right hand and agent to God to carry out his judgments-"

"And what God is that?!" I shout, before covering my mouth in surprise at my own actions, squeaking a bit as I did so. Scar turned to look at me, as if he just realized I was there.

Scar rested his hand by his side, "What was that?"

Sighing, I let go of my mouth and glance to Marcoh, who looked just as surprised. I look up and glare at Scar, "This God you speak of... He can't be the Lord, because if he was, he wouldn't want you to get revenge! In God's word, it's wrong to seek revenge on the sin, is it not?! Stop using His word for your own selfishness!"

"You know nothing! Alchemy is a sin-" Scar began to shout, but I beat him to it.

"So then why do _you_ use it?!" It was silent for a moment, so I shout as I glare at the ground, "It doesn't matter what other people do! If they want to do wrong, to commit sin... That gives you no reason to sink as low, does it?! What you're doing now, that's a sin! You're the one full of sin, not us!"

Shit...

My eyes widened at the "us" part. I may have just revealed my State title. As I rambled "shit" over and over in my head, I glanced up to see Scar glaring at me with more hate then he did Ed, Marcoh, Al, or even Grand. I couldn't help but gulp and mentally spew curses at my big mouth.

"You... What makes you think you know so much?" He hisses. I shook my head, refusing to answer. He darted toward me, every intention of killing me in mind.

"Riley!" Ed shouts, running forward. Just as I dodge Scar's arm, Ed got in the way. Scar ended up grabbing Ed's arm, and red light sent Ed flying backwards.

I bit my tongue from shouting his name, as he stood slowly. Scar inspected his hand before glancing at Ed. I looked closer to Ed and saw metal shining through the rips of his sleeves.

Auto-mail? Holy crap! So that's where the FullMetal Alchemist comes from! I always wondered why he got such a "strong" name... Especially with his, erm... Height issue.

Apparently I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts, because when I finally quit and looked up, Ed was running toward Scar with his auto-mail arm transmuted into a blade. I hear an explosion behind me and Marcoh quickly grabbed me, pulling us both away.

From the dust and rocks, there stood, of all people, Armstrong. "What's he doing here?" Ed mutters, staring in surprise.

"You've come for Doctor Marcoh?" Al asks, getting ready to fight Armstrong if need be. But he walked right by us all, stopping at Ed's side to place a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm late. The Lieutenant Colonel ordered me to tail you as protection," Armstrong said before looking to Scar. "I heard you on my way in here." As I went off in my own thoughts about how Armstrong could possibly hear Scar from the other side of the wall(I mean, come on! That wall's like, what, four feet thick? How in the world?!), he continued about who he was.

Once Scar recovered, he smirked, "What a righteous day this turned out to be. That you would come here and save me the tribulations of finding you. Blessed God full of grace."

"Don't pray just yet," Armstrong says before lifting a heavy piece of rock, "You're facing the technique that's been passed down the Armstrong line for generations. That's hardly a blessing!" He threw the rock in the air, and punched it, sending it, at lightening speed(literally!), to Scar, who easily dodges. "Second round!" Armstrong shouts before slamming a fist into the ground. Spikes ran around Scar, blocking him off.

Without a second thought, the four of us hightailed it out of there, to let Armstrong take care of it. As we panted in the grass, I couldn't help but smile. We were free! Ed stood and handed the stone to Marcoh. "You dropped this," Ed says calmly.

Marcoh reached out to take it as he asked, "I thought this was what you were after. Didn't you think about taking it yourself and leaving?"

"Of course," Ed answered, "And a younger me would have walked away with it without a second thought. But I can't forget the faces of all those people we saw today. Besides, you use that for your treatments, right? That stone belongs to them. And so do you." I couldn't help but grin.

My little Ed's all grown up!

"You ready?" he asked Marcoh, who nodded in response. "Then let's head out. We've got to find some place where the military and that killer won't find us."

Marcoh blinked. "You think we can escape?"

Smirking, Ed said, "You've got longs, don't ya? Let's put him to work!"

"Um, hate to break up everybody's parade here, but we should probably leave soon. Who knows what Scar's capable of doing to Armstrong," I stated, looking at them urgently.

Ed looked back at me, and said with a serious look on his face, "Before we do anything, I want to know what's your deal with Archer."

I stopped, rubbing the back of my neck, as I glanced away. "Uh..." Noticing everyone's eyes on me, I sigh and let my shoulders droop. "Alright. A while back I was snoopin-No, looking, around for something to put in the Military news. While I walked in the halls, I happened to pass Archer... I didn't like him, not one bit. So, I did some snooping in the files. I found Archer's file and noticed that his pay was way too high for his ranks. I had looked in other files of officers' of his rank before finding his, so I knew something was off.

"I wasn't sure if he was stealing funds from the Military, or if he was in cahoots with the Furher about something. Either way, I took it up with the Furher. He said he'd take care of it, and he wouldn't tell Archer about our meeting. By the time I finished the article on it, about a week had passed. Before I could publish the article, Archer stopped me. Said he'd have my job if I published it. I still don't know how he knew, besides the theory the Furher told him."

Ed and Al looked interested in the story as I finished it off. "So now he hates you?" Al asks, causing me to nod.

Shaking his head, Ed muttered, "Talk about drama." As a look of realization hit him, he said, "We should go now. Riley, you can leave if you want. It's too dangerous."

My brow twitched. No way in _hell_ was I hearing him correctly. After I almost get _killed_ by TWO people, he wants to send me off on my own.. "I don't think so small-fry!" I ignored his ranting as I continued, "I've got two people after my ass because of you! I'm not going anywhere until they're either dead or behind by bars."

"Fine," Ed muttered, panting, "But don't say... I didn't warn you!"

* * *

I REMEMBER NOW! Half way through writing this chapter, I remembered what was so important.

**Number One**: I made some mistakes in the previous chapters... Tiny, but I noticed them. In chapter...uh...One of them, Riley said in the chapter she was trying to act like she _didn't_ know any military personnel. But in the next chapter, she tells Ed and Al about the newspaper. So, here's how I fixed it:

Riley _does_ have the newspaper, but she doesn't communicate with military officers.

Brilliant, no? ...

**Number Two**: I have a new writing forum. The Writing Table. Go to my pro for information.

**Number Three**: I'm going to AWA, I'm going to AWA, and you are noOoOt! ... If you are... PM ME!! I MUST know! Because the _only_ person I'll know that's going to be there is my mom... And that's not exactly the kind of company you want at an Anime Convention. YES peoples, that is what AWA is. And YES peoples, I'm a dork. But, you read fanfiction! So hah, you aren't any cooler than I am! XP

Ok, here's the chapter translations:  
"Sju! That's 7!" Sju is Norwegian  
"Delapan! That's 8!" Delapan is Indonesia.  
"Neuf! That's 9!" Neuf is French.  
If I spelled any wrong, please tell me!

Be Responsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	10. Deici! That's 10!

IT'S SEPTEMBER!!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**TykiMickLover:** Lol, I thought so! And yah, I'm not surprised XD

**RyaneNight92:** Thanks!! I'm glad you like the story, and Riley!

**Kaijukote:** Hehe, hm... What can I answer? All I can say about the sulfur alchemy is: If you know what sulfur is used for/in, that's a hint! And... What the hey, minaswell. She's not like a revived Christian or anything, but she does have religious Christian beliefs, because of her background(which'll be found out later). She's not big on it though. Get it? Like... She knows about Christianity and God's word, but she doesn't exactly go to church every Sunday.

**FreeCream:** Yeah, I didn't even notice until I reread the chapters! And haha, I'm homeschooled sucker! XP School's still boring, but it's shorter, and the farthest I have to carry stuff is into the next room XD

**BlueRyuu:** DX Oops.. I didn't even mean "long legs"! Haha! I just meant "legs". Wonder why I put that... I didn't even notice the "behind bars" thing and I proofread like twice! HAHA! And even though that part of your review was pointing my spelling errors, I busted my ass laughing! XD Lol, you got a point there! But even so, I don't think many people would have noticed her say "us". Hehe, you'll have to wait for that!! I honestly don't know when I'm going to blow her cover. I know _how_, just not when. Soon, hopefully XD

**Aqemy Von Stein:** LOL yeah overestimating Armstrong sounds good! I didn't even notice either the first four times I watched the episode. But when I write my brain kinda kicks into the "observation" mode XD Honestly I cracked up when you mentioned my "amazing spirit of observation"! You didn't sound stupid or anything, I just suck at observation! And it will follow the original series. There will be my own original plot here and there, but other than that, it follows the same line. So I suggest everyone watch the movie and the last episode before I get there o.O

**Ria442:** HAHA!! You're the first to bring that picture up!! I _really_ wanted to have her hold it against him, but I had another idea with it, which it'll be in the chapter!

**Want To Join The Lovely Daaaarlings? Review!**

I'm here with the chapter for the end of September!! Why am I mentioning the first September chapter when I didn't for any other month, you ask? Simple!

_September's my BiRtHdAy, September's my BiRtHdAy!_

Hehe, not to mention all this:

AWA 14 was this month. I cosplayed as Reno 3 It was awesomeness

I had a concert this month.

West Memphis Three's court hearing was this month, and I'm very nervous for them, because the judge is the same dick they had in '94, so he's bound and determined to keep his pride instead of letting three innocent (now)adults free.

And lastly... All the good TV shows are coming back on! Mwahahaha! Supernatural, Bones, and Ghost Hunters!! XD

So, as you can see, I've been very excited about this month. XD

**I Have Bad News Though...** My laptop's internet connection's screwed up!! Wyah T.T Until my grandpa figures out what the hell's going on with it, I have to use the living room computer to get the script for the episodes. Because _his_ computer has unstable connection, my _grandma_'s has unstable connection, and _mine_ has unstable connection. My mom's hasn't even been plugged up yet, so that's a no-go.

I'm sick!! Wyah T.T And because my grandma loves the cold(more than I do), I CAN BARELY BREATH IN THIS DAMN LIVING ROOM!! So I'm avoiding the living room. And the only stable computer is where? The living room! Ugh... DX

I don't own FMA. I do own my original content. The original content is anything in the story that is not from the anime, manga, games, or any other official FullMetal Alchemist material.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist:  
Chapter Ten:  
**_Secrets Revealed_

Rain was pouring down as we ran across the street to the building. Of course I tripped on the curb which ended in a face plant on the concrete...

But anyways, I stood up and held my arms out to balance my dizzy self as Al asked, "What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know Al. Let's just get some distance from that guy with the glasses," Ed answered.

I just managed to get my straight eye-sight back when we heard a dog barking. Just as I turned my head to the dog, Ed had pulled me to his side at the sidewalk, as Al and Marcoh hid beneath the bushes. I glanced back and saw the reason, military trucks. I looked back ahead and, noticing the two old geezers staring at us, I smiled nervously, shrugging a bit.

We watched the trucks drive by, and saw officers sitting in the back. I had a strong feeling Mustang was in one of them. If not, he was here or on his way at least. Ed looked to a woman who held a tray in her hands, "Ma'am?" She looked at him and he asked, "Do you got a back door?"

...

"What about Eastern Command, with the Colonel?" Al asked as we walked down the alleyway.

"Yeah, there's no way we can get there. And with the Brigadier General showing up like this, I get the sense not even Mustang could protect Marcoh right now," Ed answered.

"Oh yeah. All those people from Central are there," Al said. My ears perked slightly at this, but I said nothing. I don't remember seeing people from Central there...

_I skipped down the hall of HQ, whistling the Wedding tune, heading for Mustang's office. I was planning on getting a job to do so Hannah and I could hit the road. "Hey Riley!" Maes exclaimed, waving at me as we passed one another. But I ignored him as I kept whistling and skipping, so into the Wedding tune._

Er... Never mind.

Marcoh gasped a bit, "People from Central have been deployed here?"

"Just the Furher and his entourage, yeah," Ed said, looking back at us. He was in the lead _obviously_ and we were behind him.

"I don't understand. This is for me?"

Al waved his hand back and forth, "No. It's not like that. Don't worry."

We kept walking until we got out of the alley. Besides it was a small area where three little boys were playing tag, and one girl and boy were mud-pies. It was so cute! Why they were out playing in the rain was beyond me. Where were their parents? Unless they were homeless...

Ed smiled a bit at them before turning and walking away, so Al and I followed. When I heard no footsteps behind me, I turned and saw Marcoh watching the kids.

That sounded perverted, didn't it? "Marcoh watching the kids". It wouldn't sound so perverted if he was like, an uncle to the kids or something. But he wasn't. He was a complete stranger. Therefore, it's "Some guy watching the kids", and doesn't that just sound like a pedophile waiting to happen?

...

Anyways...

"Marcoh?" I asked him, trying to get his attention. This caused Ed and Al to stop though, and turn around to see why I was calling Marcoh's name.

"I can't do this," Marcoh said regretfully, "I've run away long enough. I won't do it now. I don't care if that man kills me. How can I, when it's something I deserve?"

I looked at the girls and my eyes softened as I saw them playing with the mud and anything else they could get their hands on. _Doesn't that look familiar..._ I thought to myself as I clenched my fist subconsciously. "I'm missing the connection. Why do you deserve death just because he's from Ishbal?" Ed asked Marcoh.

"The Ishbalin War..," Slipped from my mouth instantly, and everyone looked at me. Damn my big mouth... That's the second time I let something just _slip_ today! I glanced to Marcoh and asked, "Right?"

Ed and Al sighed or gasped or whatever you want to call it, and Al said, "Ed said Mustang was sad about that too. But why? Ishbal started that war for Independence, and lost lives, but so did the military."

"If all of us got revenged every time we lost at war, there'd be no end to it. A cycle without a point," Ed mumbled.

"You're not listening," Marcoh started, "That was no war. That was a massacre." He began to explain the war and I, of course, tuned out and thought back to earlier, when I blocked or countered or whatever, Scar's attack...

_I was hand in hand with Scar. Red light surged from his arm to his hand, which traveled around my own hand. But that was where it stopped. The light just continuously moved around my hand before disappearing into it. And all I felt was a bit of heat as result. Glancing up from my hand to Scar, I noticed through the sunglasses that his eyes were just as big as mine and his pupils were just as small. I couldn't help but let my jaw drop a bit._

What _was_ that anyway? I knew I'd been able to use alchemy without circles for a couple years now, but I never looked into it. I didn't want to know why I had this "ability", I was afraid of the answer I guess. But now... It may have something to do with why Scar's arm had no effect on me.

And how would I find out anyways? It's not like I can just walk up to somebody and ask about it. Maybe I was a deformed baby or something. I'll just find the hospital I was born in, and walk up to the doctor that helped my parents through labor and ask about it... Ok, so I _can_ just walk up to somebody and ask about it.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a splash, and a girl shout, "What did ya do that for?!"

I looked up and saw the girl had mud in her hair. "One day during a house inspection, a military officer accidentally shot and killed an Ishbalin child. War broke out among everyone. Fighting started, and several people were killed. It became a rebellion that lasted seven years, until the Furher had had enough. He sent the State Alchemists in."

I began to tune out again, still thinking about my hands. "Most of the Ishbalins were wiped within a night. It was going well for the military, until the Rebellion Army showed up," Marcoh said, catching my attention yet again.

"The Rebellion Army?" Ed asked.

Marcoh nodded, "A group of people, alchemists or not, that started off originally hating the military's decisions and rules. They had made peace with a few officers from the military, but their opinions still didn't change. During the war, they were on the Ishbalin's side. They felt the military screwed up when they killed that child, and that the military never should have pried into Ishbal in the first place. They had fought when they felt necessary, up until the end, when the State Alchemists were sent in. Then they began to fight continuously, to save what was left of Ishbal.

"Just before the war ended, the Rebellion Army's leaders died. Ishbal lost hope. The survivors tried to leave, but they were killed as well," Marcoh ended.

"Ow, my ankle!"

We looked over to see one of the boys laying on the ground, holding his sore ankle. "Let me see," Marcoh said, grabbing the boy's ankle and using his stone to fix it. "During the war, there were doctors who treated the wounded. Didn't matter which side you were on, Ishbal or the State. If you were in need of help, they'd treat you. However, they were casualties too."

As he explained how Roy had killed them, and how he felt so terrible about it, I started to grow some respect for him. I guess he's not a bad guy after all... _Though he sure acts like one._

"But why is he after you?" I heard Ed ask Marcoh.

"Revenge. His reasons are legitimate."

Ed glared a bit, "He's dragging in people who had nothing to do with it. How can you talk about legitimate? He's a fraud! He's on a tirade of personal vengeance and he hides behind an excuse of God's will so he can claim it's noble."

"Still..," Al started, causing Ed and I to look over at him, "If someone took you away from me, Brother, I think I might do the same thing. Isn't that equivalent exchange?"

"No!" Ed shouted, glaring up at Al angrily. "That's not how the principle works! Haven't you learned that yet?! Destroying lives doesn't bring lives back!" His expression calmed dramatically as he said, "We all just need to live and be content while we can."

We all stood there in silence for a bit, before Ed walked over to Al and fixed his cracked arm. "Ok... Um, not to rain on anyone's parade here," I paused a bit as the rain continued to pour down over us all, "_figuratively speaking_ of course, but first of all, I'm tired of freezing my ass off listening to stories of the past. Secondly, shouldn't we go somewhere that's, I dunno, _safe_?"

They all looked at me when I began talking, and when I finished, Ed nodded. "Dr. Marcoh... Why don't you let us hide you in our hometown for a while? It's just three days on a train from here."

"Where?" I asked curiously.

Al scratched his chin, "It might be hard on us going back there though."

"Where?!" I whined, drooping my shoulders. How _dare_ they ignore me like this!

Ed smiled wide, "Not at all! We have friends there, the Rockbells? They make auto-mail there."

"**Where where where where where**?!" I shouted, stomping my foot down as I tensed my shoulders, no doubt looking like a child as I did so.

"I'm sure they'll be glad to see us again!" Ed exclaimed. Sighing, I turn to Marcoh to start rambling about how rude the Elrics are, but stop when I see his eyes wide. It seemed Ed and Al noticed also, because they were quiet suddenly.

"Rockbell? No, I can't. I can't go there. I'm sorry!" Marcoh said before running off.

"Dr. Marcoh!" Al shouted, and then the chase began.

"Marcoh, slow down!!" I shouted as we continued to run.

Once the chase ended, we were in an alley _again_, and Marcoh was panting slightly. "Dr. Marcoh, wait!" Ed started, "It's your call. We don't have to go anywhere you don't trust. We're not trying to steal your research."

He shook his head, "No, Ed. There are other reasons I can't go there with you."

He was about to tell us, when we saw a figure jump down from the balcony above. Looking up, we realized it was Scar. He looked at us a moment, before darting to Marcoh. Al grabbed Scar's arm instantly, and Scar shouted, "Now I have an attack made just for you!"

All I saw at first was a red light. Once it died down, my eyes widened when I saw a huge piece of Al's armor missing, and in millions of little pieces. The thing that shocked me the most was that through the pieces falling through the air, I saw nothing.

Al was empty?

As Ed and I shouted his name, Al fell to the ground. Ed ran forward and threw several punches and kicks, which Scar dodged easily. Ed throws his auto-mailed fist, and Scar grabs it in his hand. "By clasping your hands, you make an array with your body and circulate the alchemic reaction within. I know your secret, and without this sinful arm, you can't transmute quickly! _That_ is your weakness."

"Ed..." I mumbled. A mere second later, red light shot through and Ed's arm was, like half of Al's torso, shattered. Al shouted many protests to Ed as Scar walked toward the boy. My fists clenched and unclenched angrily, trying to resist the urge to attack on anger alone.

I could see Ed muttering something, but because of the rain and how far I was from them, I couldn't hear it. But I saw Scar continue looking down at Ed as he said, "Correct. By a State Alchemist."

As I tried figuring out what was being said, I suddenly heard Al shout, "No Ed! Just a minute ago you said that wasn't equivalent exchange!"

All the pieces were put together in my head, and my eyes widened. "What?! Ed, don't!" I began to run forward, but once again Marcoh placed a hand on my shoulder forcefully.

As I bent my knees, I heard Scar say, "I promise before God, I won't harm your little brother. But you should listen to him Fullmetal. Your life for another life isn't a fair exchange."

A second later, Scar placed his hand on Ed's head. "I'm sorry Marcoh," I mumbled, causing him to look at me, only to have an elbow shoved in his stomach. He coughed as he was forced to let go, and I placed my hand on the wall to my right.

Rock shot outward in front of me, which I punched and sent flying toward Scar. Hearing this, he spun around and Ed looked up quickly. Scar placed his tattooed hand on it and I rush toward him as he does. Just as the boulder disintegrates, I place my hand on the ground and push my right leg up to his face. He grabs my ankle just in time, but with the hand that could nothing. I threw my left hand forward when I saw him aiming with his tattooed arm. I clasped his hand and nothing happened. Before I could fall to the ground, I kicked off from his chest and landed safely on the ground. "Those moves," He starts, "Who are you?!"

I glared at Scar as I slipped one of my black alchemic circle covered gloves out of my pocket. Yanking my right hand into the glove, I stretch the leather down my hand as I stand straight. "Just because the officers that killed your people were States..." As I darted toward Scar, I shouted, "That doesn't give you the right!" He dodged my punch, so I threw my knee up. He twisted around my knee and charged his fist into the crook of my back.

Letting out a small hiss, I spin toward him and step back some. "What are you doing?!" Ed shouted at me from behind, but I ignored it as Scar glared.

"I'm getting tired of you, girl," Scar growled, which caused my eye to twitch. Why? Well if you remember the first chapter... _That's_ why. "WHO ARE YOU?!" Scar shouted at me.

"My name is Riley Mauler," I answered simply yet firmly as I placed my bag on the ground, so I could move easier. Slowly, I saw Scar's eyes widened. I smirked. He knew. "So you _are_ an Ishbalin..," I muttered before hitting the ground with the gloved fist. Ground shot up in front of me, blocking the red light that was just sent to me.

"What are you doing Riley?! Get out of this!" Ed shouted in a whisper from behind me.

I began to grow angry with him, so I glared as I said, "Back off shrimp!" I turned and, after destroying the rock wall, saw Scar right in front of me. My eyes widened, caught off guard, and I instinctively threw my right hand up. I managed to grab his hand as we both fell backwards. He slammed me against a wall and glared.

"I know now. My arm is only useless to those hands of yours. Anywhere else," He paused as he clinched my collar tighter, "And _you're_ useless."

"Leave her alone! I told you, kill me for your brother's life! Keep her out of this!" We both heard Ed shout. I blinked a bit, surprised at his outburst, and heard Scar "Hn."

Seeing the red light form, I reacted quick, but it felt slow. "Riley!" Everyone shouted as I shoved his hand away, jumping to my right. Scar's hand ended up hitting the camera that hung at my neck, and the wall that was behind me. Wincing as I felt rock pieces of ground from the wall hit my legs and left arm, I land hard on my stomach on the wet concrete.

As I pushed myself up and onto my knees, Scar began to walk over. "The both of you..," Scar started, glaring from Ed to me and back again. "You both don't get it."

I looked down at my hands when I felt them stinging a bit. I looked down at them and could faintly see a pink circle on them. "_What..._?" I thought as I clenched them. When I heard Scar let out a yell of pain, I looked up to see him holding his arm. We all looked over and saw Marcoh with a glowing stone in his hand. "Dr. Marcoh?" Ed mumbles. "Don't you have any sense?! You should be long gone by now!" He shouts.

"I investigated some ancient texts while I was in Ishbal. I remember discovering the alchemic drawing you have on your arm. Maybe it has flaws, but it _is_ a Philosopher's Stone and your arm is responding!" Marcoh explained.

"Don't say that, you know nothing!"

Ed looked confused and amazed at the same time. "Like an alchemic reaction... Dr. Marcoh, is there a different way to use the stone, what's going on?!"

Scar darted toward Marcoh, and as I tried to get up, Marcoh threw the stone. It sunk into Scar's hand and he let out a yell of pain again, before turning and running past Ed and me. We all looked back and Scar stood there still, with the military officers standing in front of him.

"Hurry up and do s-" I was interrupted when Scar created a hole in the ground, and dust rose around us all. Once we all coughed enough, and the dust died down, I saw the officers standing around the hall. Hughes was saying something to them as Havoc smirked.

Hearing Kain gasp, I turn my head over and realize he was staring at Al, who was now sitting against the wall. "Just say something Al! Are you still with me?!" Ed shouted, looking up at Al worriedly.

"You idiot!" Al shouted before punching Ed, causing me to giggle slightly. "Why didn't you run when I told you to?!"

Ed shouted back, "If I did, he would of killed you!"

"So you decided to die instead?! That's really smart!"

"Don't call your older brother an idiot, Idiot!" Ed shouted pathetically, which sent me into a fit of giggles, which stopped when Al grabbed Ed by the jacket.

"**That's not how we do things**. Live and be content while we can. Live to research more alchemy, so one day we can get our bodies back. **That** is how we do things Brother. Dieing? And dieing by yourself? And leaving me on my own? That's something I won't let you do!"

At first I thought Al was letting Ed's collar go, but when I heard the thud it made on the ground, I looked down to see it fallen off. Al goes into a rant about it, causing me to snicker slightly, and Ed smirks, "We're really falling apart at the scene, aren't we? Everyone must think we're a joke."

"Aw come on, you're not a joke!" I said, trying to cheer them up, when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my left leg. Hissing a bit, I look to my left to see what it was, causing Ed and Al to look over at me curiously.

And there was a rock.

A big rock.

On my ankle.

I bust out into dramatic tears as I threw my head back, still crying. "EEEEEK! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so baaaaaaad," I whined, wiggling my upper body side to side. Ed sighed and wrapped his only arm around the rock. I continued to wiggle and whine as he pushed. Finally the rock fell over and just as I was about to celebrate, I heard a very small crunch. "Eh?" I mumble, looking back to the rock. I paled dramatically when I saw the remains for my camera under the rock.

My face was blank and it was silent as they watched me react, knowing_ why_ the camera was so important. "Riley-?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

As I whined _TO_ my camera, picking up the pieces and putting them in my lap, I heard Ed mutter firmly, "If you just stayed back, it wouldn't have happened."

Glaring at Ed as I hugged my camera pieces to my chest, I shout, "I WAS JUST TRYING TO SAVE YOUR DUMB ASS FROM GETTING KILLED!!"

I continued to whine as Al shook his head, "She has a point, Brother."

"Wha? Since when did you two decide to gang up on me?!" Ed shouted.

"**You**," I growled, pointing directly at Ed, who now had wide eyes and a pale face. "**You owe me a camera**," I growl, glaring at him deadly.

Ed let out a sigh, knowing it was useless to argue, and suddenly he perked a bit, as if realizing something. And the something didn't seem to good. "I guess you want an explanation now..," Ed muttered, before looking up to me for an answer, only to see me still crying over my camera. "RILEY!" He shouts, gaining my attention finally.

I sighed and shook my head, causing Ed and Al to lean back a bit in surprise. "Human transmutation, right?" I ask, causing them to look away, Ed with a regretful look on his face. "I thought so. I'm not stupid, you know. It all adds up. You can do alchemy without a circle, and you've got auto-mail; and Al's empty on the inside, physically speaking." I shook my head, "You don't have to tell me anything, Ed. It's your story, not mine. We'll just keep it at knowing the basics, if you want."

Ed smiled at me gratefully, but I decided to ruin the moment. Why? Because that's just who I am.

Scratching my nose as I look to the side, I mutter, "Of course you'll have to buy me a camera if you want this to remain between us three instead if everyone at HQ..."

Amusement was brought to my face when I saw Ed's face pale when he realized what I meant. "Fine, I'll buy you a damn camera," Ed mumbled through his teeth as he glared at the wall.

"Great!" I shout before smiling cheekily, "I'll just come with you to make sure you get the right one, of course!" Ed groaned at this, while Al laughed.

"What's with the disappointment, _Edward_?"

"Nothing! It's just..."

"Just what?!"

"Forget it..."

"No, come on, what was it?!"

"Do you _have_ to come? I'm perfectly capable of picking out a camera!"

"I actually want one that's nice, Ed! Not something cheap and crappy!"

"Ugh..."

* * *

Ladedadeda...

You know what's ironic? Twice before, I was at the computer, and I sneezed really loud, and suddenly AOL Spyware pops up on the computer and says, "No threats have been detected." Hehe XD

This is the longest chapter so far! Yayzers!

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**. _Rawr_.


	11. Yhdestoista! That's Long! And 11!

Hiya peoples and people-etts.

I know it's been a while, a couple weeks, but I've been busy xD Not only did I pull an all-nighter trying to write a Birthday chapter of my Sasuke story for my friend, but I've had concerts to go to (peace sign here)

Oh my gosh peoples! You guys... Are from different countries! ... Granted, this was obvious, but I didn't realize how _many_ different countries. (Plus remember, I'm an American in north Georgia. _Canada_ is uniquely rare for me.) But that's not the point. The point is, there's nineteen people from Canada, ten from UK, three from Australia, and Hungary each, six from Estonia, five Romania, and one in Mexico, Finland, and Philippines each!

So... If you're from Mexico, Finland, or the Philippines, HIII!! And you know who you are XD

**Giant-flying-radish-of-doom:** Heh, thanks! XD

**Ria442:** Haha, I would have loved to do that! But I decided not to for some reason (insert shrug here). Lol, yeah she's kinda oblivious to some things.

**Aqemy Von Stein:** Really?! I feel bad for making you check every couple days for so long now DX But, yeah, rest assured, she's still the same Riley everyone knows and loves XD And I don't think it's perverted either, but it's something Riley would say, whether it be her own opinion or just to be annoying, haha XD And thanks, I liked writing those fighting scenes!

**BlueRyuu:** Haha XDXD I'm just evil that way, Mwahahaha!

**AnimeFanGirl167:** Thanks!

**RyaneNight92:** No, it doesn't necessarily mean she's with the military. The gloves aren't a military symbol. For States, the pocket watch they're supplied with shows that they're with the military. She could have gotten the gloves from a friend, made them herself, etc. XD My health's back to normal! But the internet connection is down _again_ because of a power outage we had the other day DX

**TheElementalAlchemistReyna:** Hehe, I was excited about Riley finally fighting too! Thank yew!! I'll try my hardest! (insert salute here)

**Emalee Roze:** Thanks!! XD

**WhiteWingAlchemist:** Sure, I just did! Hope you got the reviews XD

**KaijuKote:** Thanks for pointing that out! I thought I put it in there, but when I reread the chapter after getting your review, I realized I forgot to put it in. **This is how it was supposed to go**:

"**You**," I growled, pointing directly at Ed, who now had wide eyes and a pale face. "**You owe me a camera**," I growl, glaring at him deadly.

"Can't you put it back together?" Ed asked, raising a brow as military officers gathered around Roy to get orders.

I could just imagine an arrow pointing at me as I slipped my hand behind the rock, and grabbed a piece of the camera. Stuffing it into my pocket, I blink twice, before smiling dumbly. "Oh yeah," I mutter.

Ed shook his head as I removed the rock from being on top of the camera, and clapped my still-gloved hands. Placing them on the ground around the camera, it glowed blue, before dying down.

The camera still in a million pieces.

I was silent for a moment. "...A piece must be missing," Al stated simply. I bust into tears while Ed frantically looked around the piece... Which he wouldn't find. Hehe... I needed to follow them.

...Ok, I didn't need to. But I wanted to. And that's just as important, right? Besides, I still needed to get revenge on Ed for scaring me in chapter six.

Ed let out a sigh, knowing it was useless to argue, and suddenly he perked a bit, as if realizing something. And the something didn't seem too good.

I don't own FMA. So don't sue me DX I do own Riley, Hannah, and the millions of pieces of Riley's poor camera. Oh yeah, and Daisuke.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven:  
**_Little Talks_

"Oh!" I shouted, causing everyone to turn to me. We were headed back to Eastern command, when I remembered something. It wasn't too big a thing, though.

"I forgot Hannah!"

Ed's eyes widened, and I knew Al's would have too. "We have to go get her! I can't leave her here, she'll get lost in no time with her horrible sense of direction!" I shouted. My eye twitched when I remembered that last time she was in charge of where to go. We ended up in a completely different train than planned. Hell, we ended up in a completely different city.

I could hear Roy sigh, before asking me for directions to her house. Luckily it was on the way to East City. He shouted the directions to the guy driving, and sat back down beside Riza. Ed was plopped down beside me on the seat, and Al was beside him. Officers were talking and mumbling to each other, which I guessed they were talking about Al. I couldn't hear what they were saying because of the rain, though.

But I didn't care. I was thinking about Ed and Al. I knew I said they could tell me their past when and if they wanted. But I couldn't help but be curious. Who'd they try to bring back? Obviously it was one of their parents. But which one?

"_Brother... I think I just saw mom," Al said, staring at the car the Furher just got into. I looked over to see the door shutting. Right before it shut, I noticed the Furher and his secretary._

That's it! It was their mom they tried bringing back. Well, maybe. It would make sense, I suppose. "Hey, Ed?" I asked, gaining his attention.

"Yeah?"

I bite my lip before saying low enough for only us to hear, "I know I said you don't have to tell me anything, but... What's your dad like?"

Ed looked to the floor of the car and I began to regret asking. "I don't know," He muttered, "He abandoned us when Al and I were kids."

I nodded. So they _did_ try to bring back their mom. "What was your mom like?" I asked slowly, hoping to not upset him more than I may have already done. I was curious, and quite frankly I found it the least upsetting question I could have asked(I mean, it's better than "Why'd you lose _two_ limbs during human transmutation?")

"She was nice... She hated our dad running out on us, but she stayed strong for Al and me. I think our alchemy reminded her of him. She was the best," Ed answered. I smiled a bit, getting an idea of who she was just by the tone of his voice. "What are your parents like?" Ed asks. My smile fell and I blinked, causing Ed to add, "You don't have to tell-"

"They're dead," I interrupted. He began to speak, but I beat him to it, "They died a couple years ago. What do you want to know?"

Ed shrugs lightly, and asks, "What about your mother?"

I shake my head. "She was beautiful. She always looked calm. I always thought a tornado could be blowing through and she'd still have that calm look on her face. She was smart. Seemed to care about everything."

Ed smiled slightly before asking, "What about your dad?"

"He was... Different. He didn't really like many people. Mean to a lot of them. But he loved us, I could tell. He was nice to us," I chuckled, and Ed smirked a bit. I didn't like talking about my mother and father like this. I left out a major part of their description. I felt bad for doing it, but I couldn't let him know. I wasn't going to let another military officer know that my parents were rebels. If Roy had been able to keep it secret for so long, I should be able to also. I mean, it **is** my secret.

"We're here," I heard the driver shout. So I jumped out of the car, and looked up at Ed, "Come on."

Ed looked down at me, "Why?"

I glared at Roy, who had a smug look on his face for some _odd_ reason, and whispered to Ed, "I think he wants to leave me here."

The boy went deadpanned, and I could have _sworn_ he muttered, "Wouldn't be a bad idea." So, he got out as well, and as I passed the driver, I stopped and turned to him.

He looked at me curiously through the window and I handed him a penny. His eye twitched slightly as I dropped it into his hand, and said, "Buy yourself something nice." He twitched a bit more as Ed snickered, and I turned and ran to the door. Knocking on it, I waited for a response. Finally someone opened it, and I smiled when I saw a white-haired woman standing there. Hannah's mom. "Hi!"

She opened the door wider and Ed and I stepped in. "Hi Riley. Who's this?" She asks, looking down at Ed.

"Hello ma'am. I'm Ed, she's traveling with my brother and me," Ed said, smiling at her.

As Tracy left to get Hannah for us, I muttered, "Who knew you had such manners." Ed glared, and punched my arm, causing me, whose attention turned to pictures, to yelp and look over at him wide-eyed. Shortly after, Hannah came charging downstairs, a strawberry shaped purse in her arms. "Let me guess, Mrs. Snuffbom?" I ask, smirking amusedly.

She only glared, and smacked me with the purse. Mind you, it was the exact same arm that was hit by Ed. I let out another yelp, and grabbed my arm. "You two are so mean!" I shouted, turning and sulking out the front door. And to my pleasant surprise, the car was still there. Hooray! Now I just had to worry about Hannah's reaction to Al's... Erm... Body?

We got in the car, and Hannah sat beside me, clutching to her purse as soon as she saw all the officers sitting around. She then noticed Al, and gasped. "Where's Al?" She asks. We all remained quiet, and Al picked up his only working hand, waving it at the girl.

Silence. Like the calm before the storm.

"WHAAAAT?!" Hannah shouted. As I tried to calm her down, she hissed at me, "He's empty!"

"Really? And here I thought macaroni and cheese was in there!" I growled back, sarcasm laced in every word. She glared at me and I only said, "Calm down, alright? He's still the same kid you knew beforehand."

...

I sat on the table in the office, kicking my feet back and forth as Ed and Al sat on the ground beside me, talking about something I really wasn't paying attention to. I was intently trying to fix my camera. Hannah was watching me, partly confused at what I was doing, and partly amused at the fact sweat was rolling down my face and my tongue stuck out at the side of my mouth.

As Ed and Al finished talking, I struggled to fit the damn cords together. Finally, I jumped off the table, my anger getting the best of me. "DAMN IT!" I shout as I threw the camera onto the ground. Ed and Al no longer looked serious, but confused and slightly startled as they watched me stomp continuously on the remains of my camera, shouting, "YOU STUPID HUNK OF METAL WON'T FIT! I'LL MAKE YOU FIT YOU BASTARD!"

I stopped finally, panting as I glared down at the camera. Hannah proceeded to laugh hysterically, holding her stomach as she did. Al couldn't do much, so he just stared. Ed looked from my camera to me, back to the camera, and then back to me, wide-eyed and scared at how such a small inanimate object could piss me off so badly.

Suddenly my eyes widened when I realized what I had done. "No!" I shout, falling to my knees and collecting the pieces of the camera I had destroyed... Again.

"I can fix him in no time!" I heard Armstrong shout. Looking over my shoulder(I was still crying over my camera), I saw him flexing. Which is disturbing... So now I was mourning, and scarred at the same time. Great, huh?

"Um, no thank you," Al murmured, huddling into the corner of the table.

"Bonding a soul to steel is no walk in the park," I heard Roy say.

I turned to look at Roy, and felt Hannah lean toward me. "Isn't that the guy Ed fought?" Hannah whispered.

I nodded, "Yeah. Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

"FullMetal's the only one who can fix Al now. Go ahead, ask him," Roy said, looking over at Ed, who didn't bother looking up at Roy.

Hannah glanced over at Ed, who said, "Yeah, that's right. It's my burden. But before I do anything, I need to get my other arm back."

"Other... Arm?" Hannah whispered. Which was surprising to me. I mean, what, she didn't notice he was **missing an arm**?

Rize raised a finger, looking into space. "Well that _is_ an interesting fix, isn't it? I mean, if the great Edward can't use his alchemy..."

A smirk began to appear on my face. I didn't know what she was getting to, but I knew it was something amusing. I could tell just by the tone in her voice. "He's just a useless teen with a grumpy-ass attitude," Havoc said, shrugging.

I snorted in laughter, before snickering. Hannah smiled in amusement, trying not to laugh. Ed glared, keeping his serious pose, before saying, "Hmph. Anyway, I have to take some leave now. I'm going back to my mechanic. You know the one... Don't you?" He looked to Roy.

My snickering stopped then, remembering what Marcoh said. Roy was silent for a moment. I felt a bit bad for the both of them. "Sure Ed," He started, bobbing his hand up and down, "How could I forget? I saw you at her house, unconscious with that same stump of an arm you have now. Bawling in your sleep, 'It huuurts, I'm gonna pee my pants!' So tough."

Alright. When did everyone in the military get a sense of humor?

Ed didn't budge, still, he just glared. "So, where are you gonna go once you're fixed?" Maes asked. I looked to Ed in curiosity.

"Central," Ed answered, "I've got something to look up in the library there." I then remembered the note Marcoh left. So that must be what he and Al were talking about earlier.

"That's one heck of a trip. You'll need some protection. I would volunteer, but.. Well, since the Furher's going straight to Central and I'm part of his escort, I can't go," Maes said, rubbing his chin in thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Armstrong's muscle flex.

Creepy! I don't want to see that!... Nobody wants to see that...

"I can't go. I'm in charge here again. I've got to look after this place," Mustang said. Even though I had respect for the guy, I was glad he wasn't coming along...

Riza's instant response was, "And I've got to look after the Colonel."

Another muscle of Armstrong's flexed. Another chill went up my spine.

"You can send me, but I don't know how much help I'd be up against a State Alchemist killer," Havoc said casually.

Falman, Breda, and Kain all jumped behind Havoc, "That goes for me!"

"Wusses..," I muttered, glaring at the three of them. They didn't even fidgit, they just stepped away from me a bit.

Armstrong flexed yet again, and even threw in a pretty sparkle. Roy smirked slightly, "Riley could."

The three sitting beside me glanced over at me curiously, but I didn't think much of it, seeing as how I was glaring at the _soon-to-be_ dead Colonel. I clenched my fists, and he added, "But I doubt she'd be much help."

That pissed me off even more! I mean, it's bad enough to say that in front of the three people I've been keeping it secret from, but then implying I'm _weak_?!

Flameboy was going to become Boomboy if Hannah started asking questions.

...

Ok, that didn't make as much sense as I thought it would.

"That settles it," Armstrong started, "Send me! I'll protect the boys on their journey for repairs and investigation." As he _left Hannah and me_ out, I went back to trying to fix my camera.

I was going at a relatively slow pace. I figured I'd fix the camera with alchemy once we got on the road. That way I had my camera, and I was traveling with Ed and Al.

"We don't need an escort!" Ed shouted, glaring up at Armstrong. Hannah continued to sit at my right and listen to everyone.

"Really, Ed, and what do you expect to do when Scar shows up while you're missing that arm?" Riza asks, causing Ed to pause.

I nodded in agreement, "Throw Al at him?" Ed glared at me and I muttered, "No offense to you Alphonse."

Al only sighed. "None taken," He said.

Havoc then added his two cents. "They're right. You can't fight. And you can't carry Al around either."

Hannah and I scooted into the corner as much as possible when Ed glanced over. "Don't look at us, we're only a _little_ bigger than you!" Ed glared at me as I continued, "We can't carry a suit of armor around that weighs more than us combined!" I looked to Al and muttered once again, "Again, no offense!"

The younger Elric only rubbed the back of his neck this time, nodding at me. "Children should listen to adults!" Armstrong exclaimed as he get closer to Ed, who jumped.

"You can't call us children! Al, stick up for us here!" Ed shouted.

Hannah and I looked to Al, who amazingly had waterfall tears rolling down his... Erm... Cheeks. "Is that possible?" Hannah whispered to me, only getting a shrug in response.

"This is the first time someone's treated me like a kid since I've been in this armor!" He yelled, before saying, "Thank you!"

Armstrong spoke, "The train leaves soon, Edward Elric." Ed stopped and looked up at him. "We better go pack our bags."

And that's how I ended up at Mustang's office, glaring at said person with such an intensity, it was quite easy to imagine the entire room on fire. "Yes?" He asked with an oblivious tone.

"Don't 'yes' me Mustang! What the hell were you thinking!!" I shouted, slamming my hands onto his desk. Imitating Roy's voice, I mocked, "'Riley could'! 'But she's too weak'! You bastard..."

Mustang smirked. "I was merely making a suggestion," He stated, his hands in front of his face. I opened my mouth to retort, but the door opening stopped me. I looked back to see, of all people, Ed.

Surprised? Not really.

"Hello Ed," Roy stated, almost in a smug sort of way.

I turned to glare at him again. "I'm going to slaughter you," I growled, which he completely ignored.

Ed walked in and shut the door. As he walked toward us, he spared me a glance. "We need to talk," He stated to Roy.

"Yes?"

I turned to leave, but Ed grabbed my wrist. Flinching, I sighed and turned back. The serious look on his face was staring straight at me. "It's about you, Riley," he said.

I figured it was. Unfortunately, I figured it was. My identity was going to be found out, I knew it.

Sitting down, I looked down at my lap. Ed got straight to the point, "Riley isn't just a journalist. I knew something was weird from the beginning. So who is she to the military?"

Roy paused a moment to glance at me, and I shrugged. It was pointless to keep lying about it. Besides, if Ed was suspicious, he wouldn't trust me if I kept up the charade. "Ok then, FullMetal. You're right, she isn't just a journalist. She's a major under my subordination. Her title is The Sulfur Alchemist."

* * *

Ok, that's all for now. I'm writing the next part this instant XD

But I want some reviews before I post it (wink here)

Be Responsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	12. Doze! That's 12!

HOLY CRAP!

I got seven reviews in one day...!? That is awesomeness! It usually takes a couple days to get five... Dayum, seven! XD (insert readers' death by hug here)

AAHHH!! OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!!! My friend Sherry went to the Anime Convention in NZ, and got me Dave Wittenberg's autograph! AWESOMENESS!!!! Lurvs her lots X3 Dave's most notable character has been Kakashi Hatake from Naruto. He's also done Yazoo from FF7(I'm a huge FF7 fan), Solomon from Blood+, and he's the announcer for Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke.

Oh, and just so you know.. Ed's reaction to Riley being a State was completely random. How? I wrote different reactions on slips of paper, then threw them in the air. Whichever my kitten attacked three times was the one I used XD And Neko picked "calm"... So... Yeah.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**AnimeFanGirl167:** Aw! And LOL! I think Ed's a Major too, actually. Sorry, but his reaction isn't too huge... Like I said above, Neko chose calm, so I worked the best I could XD

**Emalee Roze:** Thanks! Glad you like Riley XD

**Kaijukote:** Haha, I bet he wasn't! Thanks XD

**Ria44:** ROFL, yeah, I posted the wrong document, then deleted it to post the right one. I was wondering if anyone'd mention that xD Hehe, thanks! And I believe Armstrong scares a little bit of everybody XD

**Giant-flying-radish-of-doom:** Thanks! I can't wait either.. (insert nervous laugh here)

**vampgirl16:** Thanks! Here's the next one XP

**hitorijinsei3:** Alright, way to go on finishing school! Yeah, I made everyone wait long enough xD Oh really?! Awesome. I think my mom's friend's from there... (shrug) She really misses the place. And thanks!

**WhiteWingAlchemist:** I'm sorry! I've been uber busy. Halloween's coming up, my friend had a birthday so I was updating my other story for her, and someone asked me to do a One-Shot for her (sweatdrop) so I've been working on that. Yep! I wondered too, lol.

**Aqemy Von Stein:** Thanks, and yeah, not much recently. Hopefully there'll be more! And I do believe you're psychic o.O Because the reason her state name is the Sulfur Alchemist is indeed in this chapter... Weird. But yeah, there's chemistry involved XD I'm not the greatest at it (another sweatdrop) but I'll do my best!

**Want To Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

I Don't Own: Al, Roy, Riza, Armstrong, Maes, The Train Station And Their Egineers, Any Location in FullMetal Alchemist, 1915, Any Passer-Byers That May... Pass By, The Pocket Watches, Marcoh, And Anything Else Seen in Anime, Manga, Video Game, Or Any Other Merchandise Of FullMetal Alchemist. Oh yeah, and Ed... So short, I forgot about him!

I Do Own: Riley.

Don't Steal What I Don't Own, Or You Will Be Sued. Don't Steal What I Do Own, Or Riley Will Further Annoy You, And Piss You Off So Badly, You'll Wish You Were Sued Instead.

(Longest Disclaimer Ever.)

Toward the end, the original content has less and less, but that's partly because it's a sadder moment.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist:  
Chapter Twelve:  
**_You're a Dill Weed!_

"What?" Ed asked, looking to me. I just rubbed the back of my neck. I didn't know what to say! "Does Hannah know?" He asks me firmly.

"No... And you can't tell her either, ok? She worries enough!" I exclaim.

Ed shook his head at me and Roy smirked, "You should probably go. The train's waiting."

Ed and I walked out of Roy's office, completely silent. I had every reason to be too! I most likely wasn't going with Ed and Al now. Which meant I would be stuck in this Godforsaken place with Roy.

And as amusing as his reaction to things randomly exploding in his office is...

I stopped walking then. Ed finally noticed a couple feet ahead, and stopped to turn to me. "Riley?"

Hm... Why _was_ I wanting to go with them? Obviously not my camera. Because Roy's reaction to my prank explosions is _waaay_ funnier than any reaction I've seen Ed have. And I could always extract revenge on Ed by doing something next time he comes to HQ. So there really was no need, was there?

"Riley!" Ed shouted, shaking me by the shoulders. Which was kind of a lopsided shake, since he only had one arm to shake me with.

Finally I cam back to reality. "Eeeee-ya ya ya..," I shouted, jumping back in surprise.

He sighed, and said, "We have to hurry or we'll miss the train."

"Train?" Was my intelligent response.

"Do you expect us to walk?" Ed asked, an obvious tone in his voice. He began to walk again, and I, quite confused, ran after him.

As I caught up to his side, I asked in a ridiculously long run-on question, "So... I'm still traveling with you guys even after you found out I lied and I'm military personnel and you decided not to trust the military?"

Ed glanced over at me before looking back ahead. "I thought I owed you a camera," He muttered, almost stubbornly.

I paused a moment, only to gain a Cheshire cat grin. Somehow I managed to get from behind Ed, to in front of him, as I slowly rose upward from the ground, grin not fading.

He stopped to look at me, a brow raised, and a little bit startled. It was silence as he stared. Eventually, I said in a low, sing-song voice, "You like me...~ You'd miss me...~ You want to... trav-... You-You want me... trave-..."

As my tongue-twisted self tried to figure out how to word it, Ed rolled his eyes and walked past me. "H-Hey, wait a minute!" I shouted, running toward him again.

"If you don't shut up, you're not getting so much as a roll of film," He said, causing me to shut up.

Hannah and I walked down the isle of the train, toward the booth Armstrong and Ed sat at, while my brown haired friend glared holes into the back of my head. "Can't believe you forgot me_ again_," Hannah muttered angrily.

Yep. We ended up getting to the train early, and just as I sat down, I noticed a tiny little thing wrong. Hannah was missing.

Again.

So I had to run _back_ to HQ, where Riza was watching over her. "You're becoming the Colonel," She said. Feh. Like Hell I'm becoming Roy Mustang.

As we sat down, I caught a glimpse of a folder in Ed's jacket. "What's the folder for?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing," Ed replied immediately. Weeiiird...

Hannah looked around before asking, "Where's Al?"

We all were silent for a moment. "He's... Um... Spending time with sheep," I mutter. Hannah's eyes widened.

"LUGGAGE?!"

Ed and I winced at the volume of her voice. It was then I noticed Hughes looking through the window. He must have given the folder to Ed. But what was it about? "Oh. Hey Hughes..."

He nodded at me, "Hey Riley... And who's this?"

"Hannah, sir," Hannah answered. Sir...? Hughes? Psh.

Hughes raised a brow, but smiled and nodded, "Maes Hughes."

Hannah smiled, "I saw you at the fight between Ed and the Lt. Colonel. Your daughter's so cute." Ed twitched and looked to me, who shrugged with the 'I-Didnt-Ask-For-This' look.

"You should see-" I interrupted Hughes quickly, "Sorry Hughes, but the train actually has to leave_ today_." Hughes scowls and backs away from the window.

"Be careful, you three," He says, waving, just as the train leaves.

. . .

Third Point Of View

Ed felt the folder beneath his jacket as he looked out the window, remembering what it said...

_"Here, Ed. Roy thought you'd like to see this," Hughes said, handing Ed a yellow folder through the window. _

_Ed hesitantly took it, "What is it?"_

_"See for yourself," Hughes shrugged. Ed opened the folder and his eyes widened at the sight of Riley's name at the top of the page._

Riley Mauler

**Rank:** Major

**Unit:** Roy Mustang

**Age:** 15

**Date Upon Join:** 4-6-11

**Blood Type:** O

**Height:** 5'0"

**Weight:** n/a  
_reason: attacked nurse when asked_

**Specialty:** Sulfur based attacks, generally explosions. Hand-to-Hand combat.

**Misc.:** Military News journalist. Able to perform alchemy with no need for a circle. _reason: unknown._ Timothy Marcoh's apprentice.

_"Thanks Hughes," Ed murmured, keeping his eyes on the "Misc." area. Riley didn't tell him about that._

First Person POV

I kicked my feet back and forth as I counted each tree we passed.

5,679.

5,680.

5,681.

Whoa... Deja Vu...

Anyways, I was counting the trees for two reasons. One, it was either this or listen to Armstrong. And two, last time I tried to count the trees, I was _rudely_ interrupted.

"Shit!" I mutter when a huge forest comes into view. I lean toward the window and begin to furiously count the trees, ignoring the looks I got from Hannah and Armstrong.

Suddenly Ed came barging over, and opened the window. Making me lose concentration. "SON OF A BITCH!" I shout, which everyone _ignored_. Bastards.

"Al's been mistaken for someone else's luggage-"

I interrupt. Of course.

"_Excuse me_? Someone else's? He wasn't luggage to begin with!" I protested. Hannah nodded in agreement.

Ed looked at me dully for a few seconds before turning back to the window. "He was dropped off at that stop!"

"We'll turn around at the next location," Armstrong said.

"Are you crazy? I can't wait that long!" Ed shouted, getting ready to jump out the window.

Which, I mean, is pretty effin stupid. So as we all grabbed for his legs, I stuck my head out the window. Glaring at him, I shouted, "Dumbass! Don't use the window! You're supposed to go to the Railway Gauge and jump from th-"

Hannah yanked me back in the train, shouting, "Don't tell him that!"

Ed glared back at us all, "Get off my back!"

"It is important that you calm down Edward," Armstrong.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, and Al's most likely remaining calm in a strange place he's never been to before! And especially when he's only got _half a body_!" I exclaim.

"You both just need to calm down! Al'll be alright until we get there. He can take care of himself, you know," Hannah stated, looking at us firmly.

Ed and I shared a glance and sighed, plopping back down in the booth. No use arguing.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and leave... Heh.

. . .

"What do ya mean, he ran off?! He wouldn't have done something like that!" Ed shouted at the officer, who rubbed the back of his neck.

I snorted. "He _couldn't_ have done that." Hannah elbowed me, so I shut up. Reluctantly, of course.

"Are you sure this is what you saw?" Armstrong asked, showing the officer a sketch of Al.

When I peaked around it, my jaw dropped. It looked exactly like Al! Kinda made Al seem almost intimidating...

"Yeah," The officer said, nodding, "You're quite the talented artist there sir." I rolled my eyes. Great idea. Give him a _bigger_ head.

Armstrong nodded, "It's been passed down the Armstrong line for generations."

Finally Ed exploded.

"How can you act so casual?!" He shouted before trying to run off. Trying to being keyword...s. Armstrong grabbed his jacket and pulled him back.

"It's too dangerous. We can wait here," Armstrong stated.

Ed jerked back, "None of you understand us! We don't work like you!" Hannah went wide-eyed at the outburst and glanced to me, wondering what was up. I knew, but I wasn't going to say right out that Ed was having problems with the military because he found out the true story of the Ishballin Massacre.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Armstrong asked.

"Dr. Marcoh told us the truth! **We know what all you did in Ishbal**!" Ed shouted. Armstrong's eyes widened, and his grip not only loosened, but let go completely. I felt bad for him.

I mean, I've known this guy since I was eleven. And while the statement, "He wouldn't hurt a fly," isn't exactly true, it's pretty damn close. As annoying as Armstrong is, I knew he had regrets about war. Every soldier does.

Ed ran off, and I sighed. Stepping forward, I shouted, "Ed!" When he didn't stop, I ran after him.

"Riley!" Hannah shouted. I glanced back and saw her standing with Armstrong. I looked back ahead, and kept chasing Ed.

And let's just say, the lace-up boots I were wearing, as cool as they looked, weren't helping me run down the wet and slick road.

"Hey, wait!" I heard him shout after several minutes. I looked around him and saw a little girl. Her eyes were wide as she ran down another road.

Ed darted down the road, and I sighed, speeding up. Finally turning the corner, I stopped when I saw the same girl standing at the end of the road, holding of all things, Ed's leg. "Hey!" I shouted. She jerked to look at me and her eyes widened more. "GIMME BACK THAT LEG YOU LITTLE WORM!" I shouted, darting after her. I completely ignored the knocked out Ed as I ran by him.

"Hey, get back here!" I heard Ed shout, before hearing a thud.

I stopped and turned back to see him on the ground, trying to stand. "Damn it!" I mutter, running toward him. As I threw his arm around my shoulder I began running off. Only to stumble toward the ground. We let out a yelp but I managed to catch us, and I shouted, "Ok, three-legged run here!! Let's go!" He glared at me for my, quite awful, pun and we continued to chase after the girl.

"Ah, stop hopping damn it!" I shouted as we began falling to the ground. Again. Landing with a painful thud, I got back to my knees as I sighed.

"If only I could have more limbs," Ed muttered.

I scowled, "If only you could have limbs." He glared at me and I smiled when I saw that the girl was standing right in front of a house.

The door to the house opened and a man walked out. He had only one leg, and held himself up by a crutch. That seemed to make Ed and I both understand.

"I'm sorry about this. It's been tough on her to live out here with an old broken man like me. Watching me hobble around all day long. Funny the way a child's mind can work," The man said as I helped Ed put his leg back on.

Haha, boy does that sound weird!

"Just looking out for her grandfather. You have a good eye, girl, noticing the leg. But I can't give it to you. I've got my own needs. If you want, I can point you to the engineer that designed it for me. She's got a sharp tongue, but amazing skills," Ed said.

I nodded as I continued putting the leg on. "From what I can see, it's pretty good auto-mail," I muttered.

The girl smiled and looked up at her Grandpa. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't need a fake leg," He said. I could almost feel the pride radiating from him. I gained respect for this guy right there.

"It's handy once you get used to it," Ed said.

"Probably so," He started, "But that's not the point. There are more useful things than walking. I'd rather keep my leg the way it is."

Ed's eyes widened. The girl left and I sat on the floor still, beside Ed's chair, once we finished putting his leg on. The man began to talk about the war, how it changed him. "That's your reason? You don't want auto-mail that could make you functional just so you can wallow in your guilt?" Ed asked, causing me to shake my head.

"That's not the only reason," He stated. "It's true I've lost my leg, but I've gained something in return. Something much more important. Quiet. Peace of mind. The chance to live with my grandchildren, watch them grow. It's only after we've given something up that we obtain the thing we really want, isn't that the way of the alchemists?"

"Yeah, that's right. But what about all those men who went to war and came back in one piece? That's the whole dream of a soldier, right?" Ed asked.

I had a feeling I knew what he'd say. "Those men who came back without a scratch have lost something just as real. Even if it's something you can't see on their skin," He says. I glanced to Ed to see him looking at his watch. "Looks like you've had your share of losses yourself. Surely you gained something back. You do believe in equivalent exchange, don't you?"

Ed looked up at the man and I noticed his grasp on the watch shaking. "How can that be... I've spent years devoted to alchemy. That damn principle. Getting my arm and leg back, and my brother's body... That's our dream. And we keep looking for something we can do to balance the equation. To earn it back. But I've never turned it around the other way. Where was the equivalency then?!"

I looked up at the now standing Ed in slight concern. I hadn't seen him come to close to crying until then. "What have we gained for our losses? It's always been a one-way current. **Everything's been taken from us**!" He shouted, before slamming his hand down on the table, causing his cup to fall over and off the table. I let out a small gasp as I pushed myself back to avoid the oncoming cup, and tea.

Ed sat there with his head down and I remained silent. I honestly couldn't think of anything to say. _Not that anything I'd say would help the mood_...

"A dream to get everything back the way it was? But, once you have it, what will you do with your life?" The man asks. "The pleasure of a dream is that it's a fantasy. If it happens, it was never a dream." Ed's eyes widened, again.

Silence.

I was too afraid to break it. The tension could have been cut by a knife. "Maybe you're right," Ed muttered, "But I'm still going to try." As he stood, he grabbed his jacket and stepped over the cup, walking out as he mumbled, "Thanks for the tea."

I looked at the door than at the cup laying before me. "I'm sorry about him breaking the cup," I said before leaving. Ed stood there staring out to the sky, and I decided to confront him. Somebody needed to.

But how should I? Should I be subtle, or blunt? Ugh, this is why I hate confrontation.

Twitching at the mental argument I was having with myself, I groaned and shouted, exhausted, "You're being a real dill weed!" Ed looked back at me surprised at my outburst and I blinked a few times, silent. "Ok... I didn't really mean to be that straight forward, but yes. You're being a dill weed."

"About what?" Ed asked, looking back ahead.

"I dunno how to explain it, alright? But your whole demeanor has gotten crankier," I said, walking to his side.

Ed rolled his eyes, "You're right, next time Al goes missing I'll be a little happier."

I twitched. "And_ that's_ what I mean. You can have as much angst as you want, ok? Just be nicer to people," I commented.

"You're one to talk," Ed mumbled.

"Ok, yeah, I'm not the nicest person around, but with that attitude of yours, it sure feels like it! I know why you're acting like this, but really Ed, get over it! You tell him not to wallow in guilt, yet here you are wallowing in your own! Don't preach if you're just that bum in the back of the church stealing money from the Offering Plate! Look, I'm just saying - who's that?"

Ed raised a brow and looked ahead to see a boy rush by, and into the house. "Brother's home!" The girl shouted.

The Elric sighed, and then blinked in realization, "Wait a minute, I forgot!" I smacked my forehead as he ran off, before darting after him. "AL!" Ed shouted as we ran down the path.

"Yes?" Came the voice of Alphonse.

Judging by the fact Ed tripped and fell to the ground in a heap suggested it startled him. Unfortunately for me, I was only a mere foot behind him, so I ended up tripping on Ed and falling down as well. I let out a groan as the dust cleared away. "Oww...," I muttered when I felt Ed's braid shoving into my stomach.

I rolled off, and laid on my back as I rubbed my stomach. Ed looked up, dirt marks on his face, and smiled at Al, "You're here..."

"You're aware that you reek of sheep, right? It's disgusting," Ed said as we pulled Al down the road.

I shook my head as I muttered, "And who's fault is that?"

"Excuse me for being cargo!" Al exclaimed, "I'll wash out at Pinako's house, happy?"

"Listen Al," Ed started, "Remember when Lt. Colonel showed up at Resembool, at the Rockbells? He said he came in response to one of the letters we sent out."

"Sure, I remember. He said he was looking for Dad," Al answered.

Ed stopped a moment. "Yeah, well... Do you think that was his actual reason? Or was he coming for something else?"

Suddenly the bar we were pushing jerked up, and straight into my stomach. I grunted, wincing in pain, on yet _another_ attack on my poor stomach. "Son of a... Bitch," I grunt, flipping over the bar and onto the ground. From there, I could see Armstrong holding Al on his shoulder. Show off...

"I was worried about you," Armstrong said.

"It's my fault," Al stated.

"What's the matter?" Armstrong asked, looking down at Ed.

"Sorry, Major," Ed commented, "About earlier. What I said." Armstrong smiled a bit, and I saw Hannah bend down beside me.

She smiled at me sadly and asked, "You ok?" I only groaned in response. She sighed as she helped me stand, and then we all heard the train.

"That's our train. If we don't get on now, we'll have to wait until tomorrow!" Armstrong said.

Oh hell no. I was _not_ spending the night here with Armstrong.

Just as Hannah and I were about to start running, Armstrong grabbed and pulled us onto his shoulder. He then picked Ed up and began running. "Time to sprint! This short distance running has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"

"Put me down, I'm gonna be sick!"

"I'm gonna break!"

"I'm going to fall off, go slower please!"

"EEEEYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAA!!!!!!!"

* * *

Ok, done this time! Hehe XD

Ok, here's the chapter translations:  
"Deici! That's 10!" Deici is Italian.  
"Yhdestoista! That's 11!" Yhdestoista is Finnish.  
"Doze! That's 12!" Doze is Portuguese.

If I spelled any wrong, please tell me!

Be Resonpsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	13. Tretton! That's 13!

Guess What?  
One: I bet you didn't guess DX  
Two: MY INTERNET'S WORKING AS GOOD AS IT USED TO!!  
Which means I don't have to sit in the dreaded living room to write!  
Three: I'm BORED and SO hyper! I feel like Riley on crack and sugar(at the same time..!) So it gives me a bit of inspiration for the story.  
Four: I have finished the requested DuckButt(aka Sasuke) one-shot, so I took off a little stress!  
Five: I hate floaters! (cheesy grin) Which means I found out what the hell was wrong with my eyes!

NUU!!!! I use the website Watch-FMA dot com, to access a "script" for my stories. When I went to the website to finish this chapter, I found out there was no longer a "Watch-FMA dot com". They turned it into a forum, and the "redirect" link took me to a website that has a handful of anime, _but not_ FMA. Was this suckish? Yes. Was I pissed? Also yes.

So unless Just Dubs dot net decides to post FMA episodes that _aren't_ broken, or people decide to upload _ENGLISH_ episodes of FMA on youtube, I'm screwed (cheesy grin).

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**Giant-flying-radish-of-doom:** LOL, no, but when I run out, I'll use Simlish XP Sims game language, if you don't know. Glad you like her!

**BlueRyuu:** Hehe, it's ok! You reviewed last chapter, didn't ya? XD

**Ria442:** ROFL, I felt it's something Riley would have done! Nobody would like to be carried by Armstrong, lol XD

**Aqemy Von Stein:** LMAO! What's the question about turtles?! And thank you! I'm glad you think so XD And the reason for her circle-less alchemy _should_ be revealed soon. I kinda messed up my original story-line... I wanted it to be found out when they were with Marcoh, for certain reasons, but I'll have to get by with another location. LOL, yes, I do spoil you guys! But I updated sooner because I got SO MANY reviews in just one day! Made me feel special X3

**Kaijukote:** Yeah, I think so too. But read this chapter, and you'll see why. Lol, yeah, so do I! (P.S. If you look in Chapter Five, you'll see the numbers of the trees are exactly the same XD) And thanks!

**AnimeFanGirl167:** Oh that sucks! I'd hate to be at school and then get that e-mail DX I checked out your Beta Reader profile, and yeah, that'd be cool! I'm very picky about spelling and grammar (insert squiggly eyes here.) YAY! I got your longest review!! Teehee XD And sure, I'll try and make a reference. I should have a place for it soon too XD

**WhiteWingAlchemist:** Yeah, I don't know why I didn't put the lines every time. I'm definitely doing for the next chapters though, so no worry! Yeah, it kinda is like Kimblee. I had made her specialty sulfur when I wrote the first chapter. And sulfur is popularly used for explosives, so... Yeah.

**DamnNearKilledYou:** Thanks, glad you like it!! XD

**lostcb:** Thanks! And I don't care for stories that are too serious either XP

**Want To Join The Lovely Daaaarlings? Review! Bwahaha!**

I Do Not Own FullMetal Alchemist, Or It's Merch. I Own The Crap That _Doesn't_ Make Me Thousands Of Dollars. Yay Me.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Thirteen:**_  
Elric VS. Mauler: Three to Two!_

I groaned as I looked down at the huge bruise on my stomach, holding up my shirt enough to see it.

And Hannah said I was being _dramatic_ about the attacks on my stomach. Psh. I'm never _dramatic_.

The wind I felt from sitting at the Railway Gauge blew my hair in my face, which was pissing me off, but it felt nice nonetheless. Sighing as I put my shirt down, I noticed the door behind me open and shut. I looked back and saw Ed come out and sit down beside me. "We need to talk about you being in the military," He said, almost bitterly, as he stared at the scenery.

"Oh..." I muttered, "I thought you took it kind of well..."

"Didn't have much time to explode between my arm being ripped off and Al going missing," He mentions, causing me to nod. He had a point. If he had exploded then, we surely would have missed the train. "Lucky for you, I'm not very pissed about it anymore!" He says before asking, "So why didn't you tell me? I had to find out by Mustang."

My answer was instant, "Well I couldn't let Hannah find out!"

He glared at me. "And why can't she know?"

Sighing, I said, "Hannah worries a little too much, you see? Before I became a part of the State, I was a journalist for them. Whenever I was gone, I'd have ten letters in my inbox at HQ each day. And by the time I got home for vacation, she'd attack me with tons of questions about where was who, who I talked to, if I got hurt any... I'd feel bad if I made her worry even more because I became a State."

"So you decided to take her into the line of danger instead?" Ed asked sarcastically.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "No. She wanted to travel with me, and I couldn't really say 'No, I lied, I'm risking my life day-by-day, you can't come, you'll get mauled!'" It was silent for a moment, and I was thinking about what "trust" may have been there between us. Obviously a bit if he was willing to tell me his and Al's life story. But was that trust still there now? "So... Let me guess, you'll be having twenty-four hour surveillance on me now?" I asked.

"Nah. But you still have to prove you aren't like the rest of the military."

. . .

"It's beautiful here. And so peaceful," Armstrong said as we all walked down the path. Hannah nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's rural. A nice way of saying nothing goes on," Ed said, glancing to Armstrong.

Al spoke up, "Four years brother."

"Has it really been that long?" Ed asked.

"You haven't come back once since you left?" Armstrong questioned, surprised.

"No place to come home to when they're no family waiting for you," Ed answered. Hannah would have been behind everyone, if not for the fact I was behind her, too intent on fixing my camera. It was in worse condition than it was when Scar destroyed it, and the rock fell on it(Mr. Flash had a bad day.)

...Of course that's probably because I've stomped on the pieces back at Headquarters(Bad day...s).

Hannah slowed down to my side and asked, "How's the camera coming along?"

"Urgn," Was my only _intelligent_ response.

"Not good?" Hannah continued with the, in my mind, one-sided conversation.

I glanced up from my camera after a while to see a yellow pastel house, about two or three stories high, and with a dog in the yard. They even had a flamingo on the porch.

Oh wait.

Ok. Either it's a flamingo with a cigarette in it's mouth(as funny as it may be, not a very good thing to teach the kiddies) or it's an old lady smoking a pipe.

My guess would be the lady.

Even if the flamingo _does_ sound cool.

We walked up to the door, and when Hannah saw I was still tinkering with my camera, she sighed before snatching it, and it's pieces, from my hands. She stuffed them in my bag and then hit me on the arm. Which is what she usually does to say, "Have some manners." The dog I saw originally came running toward us all, barking, as we got closer and closer. Then an old lady came toward us.

Which meant there was _no_ smoking flamingo.

Damn it.

"Hello to you too, Den," Ed said to the dog before looking to the old lady. "Old Lady Pinako! It's been a long time. I need some more of your handy work..."

The woman chuckled, "Apparently so. You really have done a number this time. I don't know _why_ you have such trouble keeping your arms."

"Yeah, well I've had a lot of things to swing at," Ed replied.

I snort, forcing myself to hold back a sarcastic comment. "Yet it seems you've gotten smaller," She said, looking from him to Armstrong, then back to him. Heh, looks like Old Lady did the sarcasm for me! Good to know such humor is being spread even when I'm _not_ around. _Whenever the hell that is._

"WHO YOU CALLIN SMALL YOU MINIATURE SIZED HAG?!" Ed shouted. My interest went from sneakily getting my camera out of my bag, to these two at the comment Old Lady made.

"You're shorter than your temper!"

"YOU'RE SO SHORT, YOU'RE TWO-DIMENSIONAL!"

"MORON!"

It was then I noticed Armstrong moving. Seeing as how his muscles were right beside my face, I _kind of_ freaked.

Screaming, I jumped behind Armstrong. Then remembering _he_ was the one I was supposed to be hiding _from_, I jumped behind Hannah, who completely ignored me.

"Edward Elric!" Armstrong started, "How dare you speak to your elder with such blatant disrespect!"

Everyone else looked blank, as I whispered to Hannah, "I don't think he understands their lingo."

"Really?" Hannah retorted sarcastically, only causing me to scoff.

"Who the heck is this guy?" Old Lady asked, "He doesn't really get the joke, does he?"

Armstrong bent down and held out his hand, introducing himself. Armstrong style. Old Lady paused, before shaking his hand, "Pinako Rockbell, pleased to meet you."

Then she finally noticed Hannah and I, who at this point, felt like wind. There, but not noticed.

"Oh, I missed these two," She said.

"We noticed," I muttered, causing another elbow in my stomach. My poor, _poor_ stomach.

Hannah smiled at Old Lady, "Hello ma'am. My name's Hannah, and this is Riley." She held her hand out, which Old Lady shook.

After shaking mine, she said, "Pinako. So, Ed, how'd you get two girls to follow you around?"

The Elric twitched and I snickered. "Oh yes, we couldn't resist! With his _one_ arm and leg, so hawt," I mocked. Everyone but Ed seemed to think it was funny.

Suddenly a wrench came flying through the air, and bounced off Ed's forehead, shoving him to the ground in the process. "Brother!" Al exclaimed, reminding me he was here.

I stared down at Ed blankly, before pointing and laughing. When I noticed a nail loose in the box Al was in, I grabbed the sparkling wrench and tightened the nail. Hannah scoffed and knocked the wrench from my hand, causing me to shrug.

What? The nail was loose.

Ed jumped up, shouting, "Nice! I buy you a wrench and you try to kill me with it!"

I looked in the direction of his glare, and saw a girl standing on the balcony of the second floor. She looked pretty cool, with her blonde hair, black tank top, and pink-ish cargo pants. "Apparently you're trying to kill yourself! Just what've you been up to?!" She shouts.

"Well while I was them, we've been chased down by two murderers, possibly every higher up from Eastern and Central command, and don't forget the rouge military doctor we risked limbs to save," I mumbled simply. And according to Ed's and Hannah's glared, they heard me.

. . .

"I'm serious, Edward! How do you wreck the best auto-mail I've ever made?! I put my heart and soul into that!" The girl shouted.

"Know how _that_ feels," I muttered while I looked down to the broken camera in my lap.

Ed nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Is it really my fault, though? It fell apart so easily!"

The girl went blank, "Al's armor is busted up too, and steel doesn't break on it's own. You've been getting into some real trouble."

"No... I mean... Ask Ed!" Al exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, and finally spoke louder, "Oh please! She isn't stupid, you two. Not only does it take brains to put together auto-mail, but no one's so stupid, they think _nothing_ happened to you two, even though you're in the military!"

They looked at me, and the girl nodded, "She has a point!.. Who are you anyways?"

As Pinako and Ed dealt with his auto-mail, the girl walked over to us. "I'm Riley, at your service. This is my friend Hannah. We're traveling with Ed and Al," I answered her.

She smiled, "Nice to meet you. I'm Winry Rockbell, Edward's mechanic."

I nodded, and said sheepishly, "Um.. Do you have any spare tools I may be able to borrow to fix this?" Lifting up my camera to motion to it, Winry looked at my camera, before nodding.

"Sure, I'll be right back," She said before walking off. I tuned out everyone as I inspected my camera, but when Winry came back, she dropped a toolbox beside me on the couch. "Here you go. This should cover it," She said, smiling at me.

As I said my thanks over and over, Pinako said, "We have to fix Ed up within a week."

"What's the rush?" Winry asked, looking at Ed curiously.

"We just want to... Get to Central as fast as possible," Al answered.

Winry slipped out her wrench, "It's not dangerous, is it?!"

Ed laughed nervously, "No! Not at all."

I glanced to Ed and muttered to him, "See? Hannah was _much_ worse."

"What?"

"N-Nothing!"

. . .

Ed and Al were outside now, and I was in the living room trying to fix the camera. Hannah was sitting by the window, staring out it into the country. "Not every day we get to see this scenery any more, is it?" Hannah asked, which I nodded silently in agreement.

When I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, Hannah turned her head, and gasped. I wasn't paying attention, until I heard her say, "Daisuke!"

My head snapped up and looked to the stairs where I saw Daisuke standing there, smiling sheepishly. "EEEYAYAYAYA!!!" I screamed, jumping from the couch and pointing at him. "**You**! What are you doing here?!"

Ed ran inside, hearing my scream, and Winry and Pinako came rushing in as well. "You..!" Ed mumbled, staring at Daisuke as shocked as me.

"See Hannah! I _told you_ he was suspicious!" I shouted to Hannah.

"Wait, you're _that_ Riley?" Winry asked.

Looking to her, I raised a brow, only managing a "huh?" Daisuke sighed, "Forgive me for looking like a stalker. But I heard you would be here soon, so I rushed here. Miss Pinako let me stay here until you came."

"Why?" Hannah asked him.

Daisuke looked to me, "You are right about me, Miss Riley." As I wondered about why he called me "Miss Riley", he continued, "I have been following you for some time now, on behalf of Master Gregory at the-"

"Okay!" I shouted, interrupting him. I began pushing him to the back door as I looked back, "I'll handle this outside! Bye!" Just before I left, I could practically _feel_ Ed glaring with a "And-this-is-how-you-gain-trust-back?" look.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when I noticed him following "sneakily".

We got outside and I glared at Daisuke, "How do you know Master Gregory?!"

"I'm one of his more recent students since you left. He wants you to come back to the Dojo," Daisuke said.

"Why?" I whined. I didn't want to go back to the Mauler Dojo for a long time after I left. That "long time" wasn't up yet.

Daisuke sighed, "Your parents were the ones to create the fighting style in the first place, for the Rebellion Army! You can't abandon that. And Master Gregory has been speaking of old age coming soon. He wants to prepare you to take it on once he dies. In his words, your parents gave him the responsibility of the Dojo until you could handle it. And that's time."

"I don't want tooooo," I muttered as I plopped to the ground, and hug my head in my lap. My hair fell and curtained my face, as I said, "What does it matter anyway? There's probably someone at the Dojo more experienced than me. And besides, the Rebellion Army's been quite nice to the military lately!"

"Exactly. It's the perfect way to spend your free time. Teaching others how to fight," Daisuke retorted.

I flipped my head up, my hair flying back, as I glared at the boy. "I'm not even that good at it. I just started making up moves halfway through lessons!" I exclaimed with a _completely_ straight face. Because it was true!

The look on Daisuke's face was a mixture of "Are-you-kidding-me?" and "You-aren't-_that_-bad." He sighed again and said, "You don't have to come back immediately, Miss Riley. But it's in the best interest of the Dojo your parents put their sweat and tears into."

Great. The guilt trip.

"So, will you help Master Gregory or not?" Daisuke asked.

"Well-"

"Great, I'll go tell Master Gregory you'll come when we need you!" Daisuke exclaimed before rushing off.

My brow twitched. So much for free will! When I heard the door, I looked back to see Ed. He didn't seem very happy... "Hi?" I muttered, smiling nervously.

It didn't seem to help.

"You told me your parents where just normal citizens," Ed stated, glaring at me as he stepped forward. I would have stepped back, if not for remembering his _limb problem_. I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't really think of anything to say. "Just how many things are you lying about?!"

So, I began counting the stuff in my mind. Which, was only my parents and my job. "... Two," I said, after counting.

He twitched, and glared more. "Why didn't you tell me your parents lead the Rebellion Army?" He growled.

"Oh, yeah. Then I could have told you I was a State. You _really_ wouldn't have been suspicious of me then!" I said back, sarcastically.

"Yeah. Lying about it was such a better idea," He said, equally sarcastic.

I shrugged pathetically, "I.. Didn't think you'd find out."

"Wait," He started, "If your parents were with the Rebellion Army, why wasn't it on the fo-..how'd you become a State Alchemist?"

My brow rose. My memory took me back to the folder Hughes gave him, and then it was my turn to glare. "That folder! It was my Military Record, wasn't it?!" Ed turned nervous now. Ha! The tables have turned, sucker!

"You're not off the hook Riley! How'd you become a State Alchemist if your parents lead an army that hated the military?!" Ed shouted.

...Nevermind with the tables, then.

"Roy and Hughes are the only two to know about my parents! They swore they'd keep it secret! Just so you know, the Rebellion Army doesn't _hate_ the military, they just disagree with them most of the time! Remember that war in 1901, where they _helped_ the military?! And don't change the subject! I'm not the only one lying! You have my record. Mustang was up to it, wasn't he?! I'm burning his ass when I get back to Head-"

"Relax!" Ed shouted back. "He only gave me your Bio. He took the Military Records out first."

I looked at him startled, "Relax?! You still have my Bio!"

Ed seemed to remember something. "Yeah. I do. And it _says_ that you can do alchemy without a circle!"

...You know when I counted my lies and added them to two? ... There was a... Miscalculation...

I meant three. Eh..heh...heh...

"So why is that, Riley?! Did _you_ try to bring your parents back after their death in the Massacre?!"

"No, I did not!" I shouted, offended almost. "I don't know why I can, alright?! Ever since I was-..."

Realization hit me. Like a... Like a... Like a bird shitting on a car windshield! Like the desk, and Mustang's forehead! Heh.

"Ever since the explosion," I mumbled.

"Explosion?" Ed asked, curious.

I shook my head and began to walk off, "Nothing!"

Ed grabbed my sleeve and when I turned back, he was glaring at me. Again. "How do you expect to gain my trust back if you're going to keep hiding things?"

I thought about it a while, and sighed. It wouldn't hurt to let someone know, I guess. "Come on, then," I said before walking off. Ed followed curiously.

"So what explosion are you talking about?"

I sighed again, and began to explain the story, dating back eight years...

. . .Third Point of View. . .  
('Cuz I Can... And 'cuz I accidentally wrote it that way...)

"_What's that?" Riley asks herself as she knelt down to the ground, looking at the yellow substance, touching it and rubbing it between her fingers a bit._

"I didn't know that the yellow substance was sulfur... And I was just a kid, so even if I did know, I wouldn't have known not to rub it like I did," Riley said, laughing nervously.

"Smart," Ed said sarcastically.

_"Riley! Come on, we have to eat!" Her mother shouted._

_She looked in Claire's direction, and sighed. Standing up, she began to walk back to the house. Suddenly the faint odor of rotten eggs became stronger, which caught Riley's attention. The little girl turned back to the substance and her eyes widened when she saw smoke rising from it. "Uh oh…" She mutters. Unexpectedly to Riley, it exploded, and her first reaction was to cover her face with her arms._

_Hearing the scream of their child, Kevin and Claire looked up, just as a small explosion was heard. "Riley!" Claire shouts, looking out the dust and fire that rose from the ground with wide eyes.  
_

_Kevin pushed Claire back a bit and he ran toward the explosion without hesitation. Riley, only six years old, was laying on the ground, blocking her face. "Riley..," Kevin whispered urgently, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her over. Panic rose when he saw his daughter unconscious, and the skin of her hands torn away. "Call the hospital!" He shouts at Claire.  
_

_Picking Riley up, he rushed down the sidewalk toward the hospital as Claire talked to the receptionist about what had happened. Reaching the hospital, Kevin ran into the building and instantly a doctor was there to wheel the child to the emergency room._

. . .First Point of View. . .  
(Welcome Back.)

"So you think that had something to do with it?" Ed asked.

I shrugged, "Maybe. I don't know."

. . .

We walked into the hospital, and up to the desk while we looked around. "Can I help you?" The woman sitting there asked.

"Yes. I need to know who my doctor was from 1900 to 1909. My name is Riley Mauler," I said.

"Do you have any form of identification?" She asked boredly.

I looked up in thought. I _could_ show her my State watch, but they wouldn't do anything... But it's not like there's any other way. Sighing, I dug into the deep pockets of my jeans, and pulled out my watch. I showed it to her and said, "I'm Major Riley Mauler. Call Colonel Roy Mustang at Central if you don't believe me."

She nodded, "No need. I believe you." She then went to another room, where I guessed records were.

"You don't remember who your doctor was?" Ed asked.

"I was seven. With how reckless I was, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a dozen names on my folder," I comment, causing him to shake his head.

She came back and sat down, "Your doctor is a Dr. Ashley Galvin."

I nodded. "I need to see her."

The woman raised a brow, but sighed, "Fine." She got on the phone and began to dial, as people passed us. "Oh, there. Dr. Ashley!" She started shouting.

I looked in the direction and only saw a couple male doctors and patients. One of the doctors looked over and walked toward us, "Yes?"

"This chick's looking for you," The woman said, causing me to twitch not only at the fact I was being called chick, but that I called a _male_ doctor a girl...

He looked me over and asked, "And you are, miss?"

"Riley Mauler," I answered.

"Mauler?"

"Mauler."

"I remember you when you were just a little girl," He started, "Your father and mother were quite popular back in Rush Valley. What do you need?"

I nod, "Do you remember the explosion when I was seven?"

Dr. Ashley nodded, "How could I forget? Why, what about it?"

"That's what I want to know..."

* * *

Ok, that's enough for now. I'm writing the next chapter now, actually! Maybe(insert nervous smiley).

You know what I _**LOVE**_ so much, I'd use both **bold** AND _italic_ for it?

Getting this in my inbox!:  
[Review Alert] Story: The Sulfur Alchemist  
Seriously. I go spastic when I see that in my inbox! You have _no_ idea... XD So... (Wink, wink) XD

And now OpenOffice decided to mess up my font DX  
(sigh)

Be Responsible! **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	14. Veertien! That's 14!

HOLY... CRAP. Ten reviews in one day. And you think _I'm_ spoiling _you_! Before this story, I'd never even gotten two reviews in one day!

I'm SO SORRY I haven't updated! I've been stuck in Writer's Block lately. Luckily I've been cured though!

Bad news. And good news!

Bad News: I'm experiencing wrist pain(again). It sucks!! DX All because of stupid Carpal Tunnel. But I'm ignoring the pain, and the stinky bandage that makes noise when I move my wrist(hehe... it sounds squishy.), and writing this for you!

Good News: My font's not messed up anymore...! (sweatdrop)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**ninja-pirate-alchemist:** Thanks! Glad you like it!

**BlueRyuu:** Yeppers, that's what it looks like. My favorite email ever XD LOL, not really! Especially when everything else she's lying about is revealed, lol.

**Giant-flying-radish-of-doom:** Look below! \/

**DamnNearKilledYou:** Thank you! I try to keep them the same. And who'd want to change Riley? XD

**Kaijukote:** Look below! \/ And nails can be hammered or screwed in. It IS possible to use a wrench, just not very easy(sweatdrop)... I didn't think about it at first XD

**AnimeFanGirl167:** Thank you!! (glompage) I'm sick of looking them up on Youtube! T.T And yeah, I heard about it actually! At AWA, Vic Mignogna(Ed's English VA) and Travis Willingham(Roy's English VA) were both talking about it. They're already getting the English cast for it XD

**Sakura's Inner:** Thanks!! And no need to whine, I posted it XD

**The Elemental Alchemist Reyna:** Hehe, I like him getting hit by the wrench also! Lol, yay for Daisuke foiling her plans! Glad you like it!

**Narutolover930:** Um... yayzers?

**Seengot:** Yay, thank you!! I'm glad you think it's unique! (legasp) I've been threatened before, but never my dog!! DX SO cruel DX

**WhiteWingAlchemist:** LOL Yeah, I love DNAngel. It's awesome! But Daisuke didn't come from that anime in particular. Daisuke was "inspired" you could say, by the character Daisuke in the manga Bitter Virgin. It's really good! And oh noes! The ARMSTRONG POSE!!

**Ria442:** LOL, definitely! I'd love to have black sparkles... Or green XD No, you're not flaming at all! And thanks!!

**Aqemy Von Stein:** o.O I wonder if it'd look like a dog.. Or a lizard. Weird! Awesomeness! I know what you mean, my short attention span causes me to drift away from some stories, also. Yepp yepp, I thought it time everyone knew a bit more about her XD LMAO! My friend says Riley and I have a bit in common XP Thanks, and it's alright!

**CrimzonRozeAlchemist:** I did?! (rereads chapter eleven) Oh. That's weird. I always spell it with an A. Stupid typo, I tell you (sweatdrop) And yeah, that's a bad habit of mine! Do know, I am working on that XD Megavideo? Wonder why I didn't think about that site. I use it to watch School Rumble and I My Me Strawberry Eggs.

**Jacika Slevim:** LOL! _Honey_, you just made my day. Really, you did! You see, I was hoping for the "99" reviews to go up so I could have a hundred. And what do you know? You did it for me! Thank you, I really appreciate that XD I honestly don't care if you think I'm a die hard Ed fangirl or not. And I don't care if you think I have no life either. It's funny enough your review was a flame, even funnier that your grammar sucked! XD _Sweetie_, you may not like the story, but I've got way more people than you that _do_ like it, so I don't give a shit if you don't! XD (P.S. Really. Thank you. I'm going to be laughing about this all day.) (P.S. Two: I'm a bitch too.)

**Want To Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahahaha!**

Ok, there were a few questions about the last chapter... First question is, "How did the sulfur explode?"

Friction + Sulfur = Big Boom XD

Riley, before the explosive incident, wore gloves all the time. When she rubbed her fingers in the sulfur, not only were the gloves causing friction, but she was a child. So assuming that, because of her age at the time, she rubbed the sulfur in her fingers pretty hard, that combined with the material caused friction. The sulfur in her hands heated up, and it slowly got ready to explode. Once it did, it ignited the rest of the sulfur, causing that to explode as well.

Second question, "What was sulfur doing outside?"

THAT is for you to find out, my friends! (Partly because I'm still coming up with the whole plotline.) Keep in mind though,(I didn't say this in the story) the house Riley used to live in was behind the Rebellion Training Area. Several people were a part of the Rebellion Army. Another dude that was an expert with Sulfur could have been using it at some point. Never know. Yet XD

Third Question, "So she exploded and got super powers?"

Nope. The explanation is in the story, but it's not superpowers XD

Yes. Point of View changes are lame.  
But I'm lame.  
It's only natural.

I don't own Naruto.

Oh. Wait. Wrong anime.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, or anything else found in FullMetal Alchemist original merchandise.

But I still don't own Naruto.

Damn it.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist:  
Chapter Fourteen:**  
"_Lack of Sensitivity"... Whatever the hell that means._

Errr...

Ree...

Errr...

Ree....

"Will you stop that?!" Ed shouted, glaring at me. I, in my_ innocent _form,was sitting on Dr. Ashley's desk.

Filing my canine teeth.

Yep, you heard right. You see, Dr. Ashley had an appointment at the time we got there, so we said we'd wait in his office. I got bored and starting feeling my teeth with my tongue. I felt my canine teeth, and realized only the upper right one was sharp. Ignoring it, I began to look around his office, and found a box of different types of files. Nail files, knife sharpeners, the whole shebang. So I began to file my canine teeth, every minutes showing Ed my tooth, going, "Ith I' wookeen now?"

He finally said yes when I got the nail file.

"No," I muttered as I continued to sharpen the tooth. "I wan' dem shar'!" Came my muffled response.

Ed shook his head, "Who cares?"

I stopped a moment to glare at him. "Me! Who knows if I may need to bite someone!" And with that, I began filing again. He just looked at me kind of weird.

Suddenly something horrible happened.

A tiny little shred of the tooth I filed off went down my throat.

My eyes widened and I began coughing, and spewing curses. "Riley?!" Ed shouted. Before he could react, the doctor came in. Almost instantly he got me a cup of water.

I downed the water and was okay again. "Filing the canine teeth?" He asked knowingly, smirking. I nodded, and he said, "Your father did the same thing. He didn't choke though." As my eye twitched at this, he sat down and asked, "You were wanting to know about your visit to the hospital back in Rush Valley after the explosion, correct?"

Nodding, I sat down in the chair next to Ed, and listened as he explained...

. . .Third Point of View. . .

(Because it's _so_ much easier.)

_Ashley walked into the waiting room where Claire and Kevin sat nervously, and walked up to them calmly. "Well?" Kevin asked, looking up at him expectedly._

"_It'll take roughly three to four hours. We're checking her system now for chemicals she may have sustained from the explosion. Once we check over her, we'll take any of the chemicals out of her bloodstream, and then begin the surgery to place skin on her hands," He explained to the couple. They nodded and he left them to their privacy._

_Kevin glanced to Claire, and his face almost faltered when he saw his wife clutching the collars of her jacket to the point her knuckles turned white, as she tried not to cry. "I want to try something," He stated calmly._

_She looked to him curiously, "What's that?"_

"_Do you remember how Riley complains about the time it takes to draw a circle?" At the sight of Claire nodding, he continued, "I think I know how I can fix that for her. But it needs to be done now, or it won't work at all."_

_Claire had half a mind to yell at her husband for talking about this at such a situation, but the other half of her mind knew it was his way of coping, and that it was his way of saying that their child would be ok. "What's your idea?"_

_Kevin looked around the room as he began. "The skin they will use for her hands.. I can draw a circle on the inside, with an ink that won't dissolve into her skin or blood. If my plan works out, she'll be able to use the circles through her skin. It won't hurt her if the plan doesn't work, it's completely harmless," He says, looking straight ahead._

_Claire slowly nodded, "I think she'd like that…"_

_  
Riley's father stood up, "I'll go speak with the doctor about it." Claire sighed and watched him leave._

_. . ._

_Hours had passed, and Kevin and Claire still sat in the waiting room, doing exactly what the room was made for - waiting. Claire was growing worried, but Kevin on the other hand, was growing angry. After so many painstaking hours, minutes, and seconds, the doctor finally walked into the room. It was dark outside by now, and no one else was in the room but the three._

"_What the hell is going on?!" Kevin shouted furiously, glaring at Ashley, who faltered in his stance a bit at the father's tone._

"_There were some... Delays," He stated._

"_Delays?" Claire asked._

_Kevin continued to glare, "What kind of delays?"_

_The doctor sighed, "It's quite interesting actually. As explained earlier, we checked her system for chemicals from the explosion. There were traces of sulfur inside her bloodstream."_

_  
He paused a moment to let it sink in. "Sulfur? Kevin, what was sulfur doing around the yard?" Claire asked, looking to her standing husband, only to see him just as confused._

_"I don't know…"_

"_Well, we were able to drain the sulfur from her, which in turn took blood from her. We transferred some healthy blood, and began the process of giving her skin on her hands, after you drew the circles on them of course," Ashley starts, "Well, once we finished, we had some extra X-Rays done on her, safety precautions. Well, the ink you used can be clearly seen on the X-Rays, which is not a big deal. We took two to compare them, make sure nothing was going on. The first one looked perfectly normal. The second, however…_

_"The circle on her hands got a bit brighter in the second X-Ray. At first we thought it was just the ink reacting to the radiation, but when we tested the ink samples you gave us, it had no reaction. So we decided to take another X-Ray, just to be sure nothing was wrong with the equipment. The circle in the third X-Ray was even brighter. It was bright enough that it was no longer blue, it was a bright white. We went into her room, and her hands were actually glowing a bright blue. Now, I don't have much knowledge on alchemy, but a fellow doctor working on her case does. He said that that's what happens when you perform alchemy, it glows light. And it would make sense, with it showing up in the X-Rays."_

_  
Kevin was astounded. It worked. But on what? "What could the circles be performing alchemy on though, without her clapping?" Claire asked what was on Kevin's mind._

_"And that's exactly what we wanted to know," Ashley said. "The only thing that came to mind were the chemicals. So we did a another check on her bloodstream. Apparently the doctors didn't drain all the sulfur out of her system like they thought they did. There was still traces of sulfur inside her. We waited about an hour, to the other doctor's decision since he knows about alchemy, and checked on her blood again. The sulfur was gone."_

_He let his amazement sound his voice as he continued, "I think the circles on her hands absorbed the sulfur into the circle… Mr. Mauler.. Your idea of the circles saved your daughter's life."_

_  
Claire smiled a bit, looking to the shocked Kevin. He was sure the circles would be useful, but he never imagined they would save her from sulfur. "Is she awake?" Claire asked softly._

_Ashley smiled and nodded, "She woke a little while ago. She's playing with her roommate now. I'll take you to her room."_

. . .First Point of View. . .

(Back to the mind of Riley. Oh noes.)

"After that, everything went fine. You befriended your hospital roommate, and your parents took him in as their own once he was released," Dr. Ashley said.

I had a lot on my mind at the moment. First of all, the whole story was a lot to take in. Then there was the boy, but that wasn't the point of the story.

"Your father was quite shocked at the results," Dr. Ashley said, smiling. I of course was too busy thinking, so I just nodded.

"What happened to the boy?" Ed asked, tired of the silence.

Dr. Ashley sighed, "He.. Was a regular patient at the hospital.."

. . .Third Point of View. . .

(Cause I wrote it that way. Nyuh.)

_He leads the couple into a small rectangular room, where they saw Riley sitting on another child's bed. The little boy had green eyes, and a skinny body. He looked to be Riley's age. The first thing they noticed however, wasn't the huge smile on his face as he joked with Riley, but the uncovered skin atop his head.  
_

_There was no doubt this boy had cancer.  
_

_The two children looked over at the sound of them walking in, and Riley smiled. "Daddy, mommy, meet Henry! He's staying in this room too," She said to them, as she sat there with bandages on her somewhat new hands._

_  
"I can see," Claire said with a smile as she walked over to them, "It's very nice to meet you, Henry."_

_  
Henry smiled a big grin up at her, which clearly showed his two front teeth missing. "Nice to meet you ma'am!" He exclaimed._

_  
"Mommy," Riley starts, "We were wondering if Henry could spend the night when he gets out of the hospital?"_

_  
Claire seemed shocked as she looked to Henry, "Oh? You're getting out soon?"_

_  
Henry nodded proudly. "Uh-huh! The doctor said I was getting better and that I'd be out of here in no time!"_

_  
"Well then, we'd love to have you over Henry," Claire stated, smiling at the young boy. Her own heart ached, imagining what his own mother must have felt._

. . .First Point of View. . .

(..._So_ unprofessional...)

"You alright?" Ed asked as we walked back to the Rockbell's house.

I stopped walking and looked over at him, with a sigh. "You know me well." I looked to the sunset at my right and continued, "I just... I can't believe my father," I said.

Ed paused before nodding and walking back to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, "He did his best..."

Nodding, I said, "I guess. But still... He _didn't_ choke on a tooth fragment?! That's impossible!"

Silence.

The Elric's brow twitched a bit. I rose a brow. "What?"

"I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOUR HANDS!" Ed shouted angrily, glaring at me as if I had stolen his shoes and cut off the _antenna_(I refused to call it anything else) on his head that made him taller.

I twitched now, "What? Why would I be angry about that?! That's the nicest thing anyone's done for me!" I smacked him on the head as I shouted, "YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!" I proceeded to stomp off, _with every right to_.

I mean, come on! Why _would_ I be angry about it? Because of my dad, I was able to improve my fighting(which I had no potential in to begin with.)

Eventually, we got back to the house, arguing the whole way of course. According to Ed, I wasn't "sensitive enough".. To which, I replied with "THE HELL I'M NOT!" and another smack to the head.

Don't judge me.

I went back inside and Hannah was immediately at my side, asking every question she could think of, starting with, "Weren't you in the back yard?"

I continued working with my camera after the interrogation, and Hannah sighed, staring at me all the while. Finally looking up at her, I mumbled, "Wa'?"

Hannah rose a brow at me, so I sighed and took the wrench out of my mouth. Repeating what I asked, she said, "I'm bored. Let's go do something!"

"Like what?" I asked, going back to my camera in the meantime.

She shook her head, "Explore?"

I rolled my eyes as I continued fixing the camera. "What do you expect to find, a new patch of grass?" I remarked sarcastically. It was true though. We had passed a town on the way here, and it only had the necessary stores needed in a town.

Hannah glared at me. "Let's go! Please?"

"Fine!" I mumbled as I put down Mr. Flasher(which Hannah _swore_ I changed the name of), and headed outside, Hannah in tow. We stepped outside, to instantly see Ed laying on his back(lacking an arm, and with a wooden leg). What made it funny, was that the dog(who also lacked a limb) was laying next to him, in the exact same position. Me being me, I had to say something. So I did.

As I pointed at him, I looked to Hannah with wide, crazy eyes. "I told you he was too short to be human!!"

Hannah rolled her eyes this time, as Ed glared at me, "I'd attack you, but I can't at the moment..."

"Nyah. Even if you had a capable set of limbs, you wouldn't be able to catch _this_," I remarked, pointing to my ass as I turned to show him in more detail.

Ed twitched, a light blush on his face, as expected from a teenage boy after a girl showed him her ass. He shook his head at my antics, and sat up, "Whatever. I have to go some where. Try not to destroy anything while I'm gone."

I only raised my brow as I watched him stand and walk off. The dog followed him. "Where's he going...?" Hannah muttered.

"He's going to see Mom," Al said, watching him also.

"Mom?" Hannah asked.

Al nodded at her, "He's going to go visit her grave." He glanced toward us, and noticed me staring at Ed's back.

"Shouldn't someone go with him?" Hannah asked, worried.

I shook my head, "No... Let him be alone." Hannah looked at me, a bit shocked that _I_ of all people made that decision. "He needs to be alone," I said, not looking away from him. My brunette friend sighed, and nodded before walking into the house. I blinked, and looked to Al, "It's kind of humid, so you might rust if you stay out too late..." He nodded slowly, and I walked back inside, muttering, "That sounded weird."

**. . .**

It was a few hours later, when the sun was down completely, and Ed hadn't returned. Hannah continued to look out the window during those hours, asking about going to get him. I only shook my head and kept trying to fix Mr. Flasher.

Hannah sighed, "Alright, no more waiting around! Riley! Go get Ed!"

I looked up at her dully, and muttered a small, "No."

She glared at me, "Riley Mauler, get out there and bring back our friend!"

When I didn't make any sign of moving, her glare deepened, "Now." My eye twitched, but I mutely stood, placing Mr. Flasher on the table, and left. I just stood there for a few seconds, when I heard her shout through the door, "AND DON'T JUST WAIT AT THE DOOR UNTIL HE COMES BACK EITHER!"

Another twitch.

From inside, I could hear Armstrong and Pinako laughing. And with that, I marched off grumbling about revenge on the three.

**. . .**

After finally finding my way to the cemetery, I realized it may have been easier if I brought a flashlight. Luckily the moon was just bright enough for me to see my near surroundings. It made me wish my camera _wasn't_ broken.

I walked between gravestones as I looked for my blonde friend, before tripping on something. What it was, I didn't know. I didn't bother holding in a scream as I fell to the ground, _on my stomach_. "Son of a..!" I muttered as I got to my knees, holding my probably dead stomach.

Looking back, I only saw this black thing.

I got scared.

"Eeeeeh..." I muttered as I jumped forward to get away from it, only to hit my head on something quite hard. As the _thing_ and I both grunted in pain, I jerked back, shouting, "I'm sorry, don't eat me!"

"What are you going on about?" AH! A voice I recognized!

"Ed..?" I mumbled as I rubbed my head. I looked forward and did indeed see said person sitting in front of me. He was facing my right, so I looked over and calmed down when I saw a gravestone. I may not have seen the writing, but I knew it was his mom's. I turned to sit down instead of being on my knees, and sighed. "Sorry I interrupted. Hannah was worried, so I _volunteered_ to come get you."

...Don't judge me!

It was silent for a while, when I smiled. "She was beautiful, wasn't she?" I asked him, looking up at the moon.

He rose a brow at my out-of-the-blue question, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah..."

"I can tell," I said, looking back at the gravestone, "Her stone has that sort of look to it."

"It's a normal gravestone," He muttered, turning back to it.

Shaking my head, I sat straight. "So?" It was quiet another moment, and Ed shook his head, before standing.

"Let's go..," He said, as I stared up at him. Nodding, I stood quickly and followed him on his way out.

We walked in silence for the most part, which I broke(_of course_) by saying, "Hey..." He looked over at me and I said, "You owe me an apology."

"For what?!" He asked, looking at me puzzled.

I glanced to him and muttered _innocently_, "_You_ said I wasn't sensitive enough. Remember?"

"..." He nodded, "Yeah..."

I smiled wide, happy I was going to get an apology.

"So what about it?" He asked simply, causing me to almost stumble to the ground.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHAT ABOUT IT?! I JUST SPENT ALL DAY "CARING" ABOUT YOUR NEEDS!"

"You're going to wake people up."

"SCREW THEM! YOU OWE ME AN APOLOGY, ELRIC!"

* * *

I'm writing the next one now! I feel _really_ bad for not updating sooner... (Insert nervous smile here)

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	15. Viisitoista! That's 15!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**CrimzonRozeAlchemist:** Don't worry about it, you were the first one to review anyway! Hehe, yeah I like the part too!

**Kaijukote:** LOL! Yes, she is! And they most likely did. Like you said, their science wasn't quite as advanced. However the radiation was still there.

**Ria442:** o.o I'm sorry! I just had this horrible Writer's Block and couldn't get out of it DX

**AnimeFanGirl167:** hehe, thanks! Yeah, Riley's the OC he's being paired with, but it's going to move slow. Partly because I don't _ever_ go fast with the relationships I write(or am in XD''), and partly because there's going to be so many upcoming chapters. Thanks! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrate too XD

**SaHaRu:** XDXD I've already replied to you, teehee!

**Giant-Flying-Radish-Of-Doom:** Very satisfactory. XD

**Aqemy Von Stein:** I missed you too, actually! Your reviews always make my day X3 Yeah, she's very amazing, lol. And yeah, if someone has too many X-rays, there could be damage caused. However the X-rays she had gotten, even in our day, has very little amount of radiation. It's not even enough radiation to amount to the natural radiation you get in one day. And with their alchemic resource, there was probably even less radiation in them. So she most likely would receive little to no damage from them XD

**Ereneviana:** Thank you! And I'm glad you like Riley XD

**Kuchaki:** Teehee, thanks! X3

**Gaara and Sasori lover:** Author-sama, eh? (evil laughter here) XD Thanks! I'm glad you like it. And definitely.. Gai's pose is a little on the freaky side... o.o

**Want to be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

I have something to ask of you, guys. My neighbor's oldest son, Paul, left for Afghanistan January 25th. I didn't think he was ready to leave yet, having just joined the service so soon. Turns out it's been longer than I thought. I remember hanging out with his little sisters all the time, and him being a pain in the butt to us, hitting me with pillows so hard, they left bruises. But now he has a child, and is going to Afghanistan. If you pray, could you include him in your prayers; and if you don't pray, could you at least hope he'll stay safe? I don't know him too much anymore, the last time I saw him was when I was eleven, but I am worried, and will miss him while he's there.

Riley is mine! If she was yours, it'd be YOU writing this.  
FullMetal Alchemist is NOT mine. If it was mine, it'd be HIROMU ARAKAWA writing this.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Fifteen:  
**_Auto-Mail_

One.

Two.

Thre- I counted that one. Damn it.

One.

Two.

Three.

Fo- That's a plane.

One.

T-

"Shouldn't you be inside?"

I looked back, irritated that someone had interrupted me counting the stars(my OCD-ness), and saw Armstrong standing there. I shrugged, "I 'unno."

He walked toward me and said, "I was just going to go chop some wood."

As I wondered why in the hell someone would chop wood _this_ late at night, he walked by and to the side of the house. Shrugging it off, _like I do everything,_ I walk inside the house. Just in time to hear Winry say, "Wow.. You guys are stingy, aren't you?"

Smirking at my wonderful timing on coming in, I nodded. "Yep. Mr. And Mrs. Stingy. They're going to have babies named Stinge and Stinga," I continued, ignoring the glare Ed sent me, "And then they'll get a dog, but they won't pay for him. They'll find him on the side of the road and steal him. They'll name him Stinge-er."

I would've continued, if Ed hadn't thrown a pillow at my face. "Shut up and go back to fixing your camera Riley," He muttered, glaring at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and sat down.

"I would, but... I've declared it un-fixable," I said, glancing to the trashcan.

Hannah peered into the trashcan, and blinked. Her brow twitched. She reached in, trying to grab the camera. "How do you start to fix a camera that's in ten pieces," She paused to pick up a wire, which had a small square piece of metal on it, "And end up with a camera in a million pieces?"

"..," I debated over my words. Finally choosing some, I said, "..I'm.. A very... Troubled person."

Ed snorted, "You finally said something that makes sense!"

I glared at him, hitting him on the head. He let out a low grunt as he glared at me, to which I ignored.

. . .

It was night now, and I was comfortably clad in my over-sized PJ's. As I let out a yawn, heading toward the bedroom, I stopped when I saw Armstrong standing in front of the bedroom door. My eyes went dull as I commented, "That's not awkward at all, Armstrong..."

He glanced at me and then back into the room, which caused me to perk up a bit. I walked over, and peered inside. Ed and Al were sitting there, and the way Ed was sitting made me feel a bit uncomfortable. "There's something wrong with me..!" Al said in a shaking voice.

I blinked; What was wrong with Al? If there was a mental Elric, it'd be Ed. Not Al...

Ed let out a sigh after trying to find the words to say to him, and I looked up at Armstrong. He seemed a bit saddened by it as well. As I looked back, I saw Ed about to speak. "So, listen Al.. There's this thing, see, I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now... But I've been kind of scared I guess, of what your reaction would be."

"What?" Al asked simply. At the same time, I could tell he was anxious.

"Dammit, it's just...-"

Ed was interrupted by Al demanding, "Tell me!"

The older Elric opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. Sighing, he said, "No. It's nothing. Forget it.."

"Brother, tell me!" Al exclaimed.

Instantly, Armstrong pushed past me, breaking the door off its hinges in the process. I let out an "Eek!" as I jumped back in fright. Which, I mean, could you blame me? What would _you_ have done if a nine-foot _boulder_ shoved his way through a _door_?! Just sit there and watch him?!

I didn't think you would.

"Gentlemen, look up at the sky! This night gives us a bounty of gifts, like a blanket of shimmering, brilliant jewels," he paused to rest his hands on the boys' shoulders, and I felt as if I could almost _see_ pink sparkles shooting around his head. Pink sparkles I had the urge to pop with a nine-inch nail(which I didn't, mind you. Instead I stuck to singing annoyingly low background music.)

"This is a beauty that cannot be witnessed in the city, because of all the shining light. This is an amazing place you're from, this quiet little village of Resembool. In exchange for it's fairness, it has much the city doesn't. You lose yourself in the sky."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh- Kyuh! Kyuh! _Hack!_" The others looked back at me, as I began coughing. Clearing my throat, I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." Ed was the only one to react, by shaking his head at me.

He let out a small smile as he said, "Years ago, we used to look up at the starts almost every night. Didn't we, Al?"

Said boy moved a bit as he said, "Uh, yeah.. And dream."

"Dream about what?" I asked, smiling wide. Ed groaned at the tone of my voice.

"Oooh Eddie-Boy! I bet you dreamed about being _taller_!"

"What was that?! I don't need to be taller! You need to be shorter!"

"And by this, Eddie-Boy, you're implying that you are indeed short?"

"Sh-Shut up! And what's with the new nickname anyway?!"

"What, rather me call you Mr. Shorty Mc-Short-Pants instead?"

And that's pretty much how the rest of the night went...

. . .

"Yeah, right. Connecting to each of my nerves.. I can't get enough!" I heard Ed comment. I was currently sitting beside him, Winry, and Pinako as I watched them fix it. Being the _intelligent_ one I am, I was very interested in what they were doing. Hannah stood on the porch, not wanting to "intrude" on Ed's "privacy". Seeing as I was previously gracious about his privacy, I didn't care this time.

I blinked as I continued watching Winry and Pinako. "Jee Ed, didn't know you were a masochist," I remarked calmly, and someone amused.

"Yeah, it's great. Maybe _you_ should try it sometime..," Ed replied, to which I snorted.

"Don't complain, you baby. You want to hurry and get back to Central, don't you?" Winry questioned.

Ed nodded and said, "You got that part right. This is just motivation. I can't wait till I get my body back to pure grade flesh and bone."

"It's going to be a real disappointment for us. We're making a killing off you," Pinako commented.

I shrugged and added in, "Don't worry about it. Give him three weeks after having real arms and legs back, he'll explode a limb or something by accident and you'll have to give him auto-mail again."

Most found the comment amusing. Except Ed, _of course_. I honestly don't think he has much of a sense of humor. "..Can you leave anyway?" He questioned me.

I blinked, "Wha? Oh come on, what I said wasn't that bad."

Ed shook his head, "It's just uncomfortable knowing you're staring at me."

A sly smirk hit my face. I stuck my tongue out at him as I teased, "Afraid I won't like what I see?"

Red covered his cheeks as he glared a the wall. "You missed the point entirely," He growled out. I chuckled a bit before everything went silent.

Winry sighed. "Why go to all this trouble just for human limbs? You've got the smell of oil, the creek of synthetic

muscles-!"

I interrupted with a quite cheerful, "The rusting of the metal! The loosening of the screws!" As everyone stared blankly at me, I slowly sat back down, "Oh.. We weren't doing that anymore?... Sorry..."

Winry sighed and recovered by exclaiming. "Who needs _natural_ when you got _auto-mail_?!"

Ed snickered as he piped up, "Machine Junky."

Quick to reply, she shouted, "Alchemy _Freak_!"

"Okay, we're ready," Pinako said. She began counting, so I stood and moved my chair for her. As she hit "three", they attached the nerve, and I saw Ed groan. He bit his lip as he cringed from the pain. I didn't watch it all the way through.

...

I sat at the couch, beside Ed's head as he laid there(unconscious). Finally I heard some movement, so I blinked and looked down at him. He opened an eye and I smirked at him. "Hey," I said.

"Hey..," He muttered, a bit hoarse.

"How you feeling?" I asked, still leaned over to look at him. He groaned. I blinked and asked, "Like someone put TNT inside you and set it off?"

He stared at me, a bit concerned. "...I guess that's one way," He said.

I nodded. "I'll be right back," I said before heading into the kitchen. He watched me leave before closing his eyes, hoping to sleep until the pain went away. Finally, I came back holding a wet rag.

Sitting back down, Ed looked at me. "Riley, I don't think a wet cloth on my forehead will take the pain away," He said.

I shook my head, "Silly, silly Edo." Suddenly, I tossed the entire rag over his face – And held it there.

Ed jumped a bit, and began to grab my wrists. But I continued to hold it down(quite tightly), as I said, "Calm down, it's a wash-cloth. You aren't going to suffocate, dillweed."

I could tell he sighed as he let go. Eventually he relaxed, so I pressed, quite hard, against random areas on his face. "Feel better?" I asked.

He nodded slowly, "For the most part..."

Smirking, I explained, "The cold pressure distracts you from the pain." The corner of his lip twitched upward(or.. Downward, in my view..) as he grabbed a hold of another part of the rag and held it there. Suddenly, Winry walked in but stopped upon seeing it. I blinked as I looked at her.

Imagine being Winry(I can imagine her stomach gets quite cold, but that's not the point), and you walk into a room and see one friend smothering the other with a wash cloth. What would _you_ think?

I let go of the rag quickly and sat back up straight(not wanting to look like a murderer and all..) "What'd you let go for..?" I heard Ed hiss; Apparently he began focusing on the pain again.

"...Um... Okay..." Winry said, shrugging it off. Ed slowly sat up upon hearing her voice and Winry sat down with us. "Okay, listen Ed. Your new auto-mail is lighter than before so you can move quicker. But that also means you can break it easier. So be careful, alright?"

Ed nodded, "Thanks."

Winry nodded and stood, stretching. "That was the first all-nighter I pulled in a while. I'm beat!" She said, tired.

"Really, Winry. Thanks," Ed told her. Now I felt _reaaaalllly_ awkward.

"Don't thank me for the rush. I'm charging you a fortune," She ended with a smirk.

I snickered, "Edo's going to end up a poor man after all this!" He glared at me as Winry left to get some rest. I blinked, staring back at Ed dully. "What?" I asked after a few seconds of watching his glare.

He handed me the rag and I rolled my eyes. "Spoiled," I muttered as I headed to the kitchen, "Since when did I become your nurse?"

He smirked. "Since you grabbed the rag from me," He replied casually, to which I quickly balled the rag up and chucked at his head. It smacked him, and his brow twitched. As he rubbed the spot, I heard him say, "Leave it up to you to make a washcloth into a lethal weapon..."

I smirked and stuck my tongue out at him. "This isn't the kind of conversation for compliments, but it's still appreciated!"

"Heh... Hey.. Riley?" Ed asked as I wet a new cloth(seeing as the other one _crawled_ it's way under the couch and I was too lazy to retrieve it).

"What?" I asked.

"Thanks.. For back there with Scar. You helped us out big-time..."

"No problem, Eddie-Boy."

"Please stop calling me that."

"...No problem, Shortmeister."

"...You're lucky I'm in pain."

"And I plan to take every advantage I can of that."

* * *

I realize it may be shorter, but I liked the ending for it, and thought you'd like a new chapter soon X3

Okay! Language Translations! Huzzah!  
"Tretton! That's 13!" Tretton is Swedish.  
"Veertien! That's 14!" Veertien is African.  
"Viisitoista! That's 15!" Viisitoista is Finnish.  
If I spelled any of them wrong, please tell me. I am in no way a Language expert!

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	16. Tizenhat! That's 16!

Ugggh... Stomach.. Ache...

Without realizing it, I bought the jumbo pack of pocky at MomoCon. And now I have to eat them all, because I hate wasting food. And money. (sigh) Too... Much... Pocky... (head/keyboauyjhuy7h7

Erm.. Anyway. I have finally decided something. (Finally?)

I'm going to cross this over with Twilight.

...

(Laughing) No, no, no! Just kidding! Should'a seen your face.(Since, you know, I can't.)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Giant-flying-radish-of-doom:**More? Yay! Teehee, yes, nicknames are fun!

**Seengot:**No problem! And thanks, I'm glad you like it X3

**AnimeFanGirl167:**Lawlz, yep, he's definitely not a sexist! XD Aww! Thank you! I'm glad you'll include him, let alone ask your class to.

**White Wing Alchemist:**Teehee, that's the best thing about it. Like Riza said, without his auto-mail, he's just a foul-mouthed teenager. And when he's in pain, he's a _slow_ foul-mouthed teenager, Riley's deduction I'm sure. XD

**Emalee Roze:**XD Thanks!

**Tig tig kitten:**XD I'm glad you (and your brother) like it! Why does he hate the site? I like it compared to Quizilla(insert deadpan here).

**Warning746:**o.O Lawlz, thanks! Yeah, I suppose she's odd XD

**Kaijukote:**Haha! Yeah, I don't blame you. Whenever I read an Ed story, I expect there to be some tension for Winry and the OC. At the moment though there probably won't be any begrudging feelings between them(At least until the end of this chapter) because I want there to be a good solid reason for their hatred, other than jealousy. Or, at least, good and solid in their eyes.

**Want To Be A Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

Sorry I got this out late, but we've had a lot going on. We haven't heard of anything about our neighbor since he left; And our other neighbor has just been diagnosed with cancer(five months left, in fact.) Plus I was afraid of writing this while in a crummy mood(My logic is, my mood is the story quality. If I feel crummy, the story is crummy. Therefore I only write this story when I'm in a good mood!) To make it up to you, I'm going to try and write two chapters within the week! Hopefully only a day apart.

Own FullMetal Alchemist, I do not.  
Own Riley, I do. Own her, you do not.  
Own lame Yoda reference, I do not.

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist**  
**Chapter Sixteen:**_  
The Pocket Watch of Doom_

I let out a yawn as I stretched my arms. "Man.. It seems like we've been here forever," I commented.

Winry looked at me dully as she said sarcastically, "I'm glad you're enjoying your stay."

I blinked, before laughing nervously. "No, no! That's not what I meant! It's just – you know – we have to go to Central and all..."

"She justs wants a new camera," Hannah mumbled, to which I glared at her a bit. _Even if it was true_...

"Hey.. Where've you been anyway?" I asked Hannah.

She began to twitch, and exclaimed, "I've been here this whole time! Have you not noticed me?!"

I was silent, thinking over it. Hannah's brow twitched at the fact I had to strain so hard to remember her presence. I shrugged and shook my head, "No.. I guess I haven't noticed." She let out a disapproving sigh.

Winry sighed as she looked down at the table. "Riley? Hannah?" She questioned slowly. We both hummed in response as we looked over at her curiously. "..Ed never calls us.. And he tells us even less... No matter what I do, he refuses to let me in on things. I can't help but worry about him and Al. They've been through a lot as it is, and now they have to do these dangerous things... You two have been with them for a while now. Do I have reason to worry as much as I do?"

Blinking, I looked to Hannah. She didn't know how to answer it. This was why I had lied to her about my military status. I didn't want her to worry. With a sigh, I looked at Winry. "Listen... Being in the military, it's dangerous for him no matter what his mission is. It could be as simple as paperwork, but it's still dangerous. I won't lie to you. Ed's been doing a lot of things you'd probably have a heart attack about, but that's his job. And his goal. Half the time, he's going to get hurt. And another half the time, he'll get the shit beaten out of him. But he won't die. He has too much work that needs to be done to die. It's alright to worry, but don't beat yourself up over it. He has a lot of people there for him if something goes wrong."

Winry slowly smiled at me a bit, and nodded. "Thanks, Riley... I needed that." Smiling, I nodded back.

Upon hearing a noise outside, Winry stood to go see what it was. Hannah and I followed her onto the porch where we saw Ed and Al sparring. "Good to see he's back together again," Hannah commented, and Winry nodded in agreement.

Winry glared at them and said, "It might not stay that way if they don't be careful!"

"KNOCK HIM OUT, AL! COME ON, YOU CAN DO IT! JUST STEP ON HIM!" I shouted, throwing my fist in the air for effect. When neither responded, I blinked in surprise. Ed _had_ to have been really into it. Suddenly I felt something hot on my neck. Blinking in confusion, I looked back and see Winry glaring at _me_. "Ehehe...."

She sighed and headed into the house, saying, "They still have a one-track mind. They're like children..!" Hannah followed her inside, as if something caught her attention, but I didn't notice. I was too into getting Al to step on Ed("_IF YOU DON'T WANT TO, TAG ME IN DAMMIT! I'll squash him like the bug he is!_" I shouted, standing on the lower plank of the railing) Finally, Al tossed Ed into the air. Far _far_ into the air..

"**Next up, me**!" I heard from the side. Before I could match the voice, I saw Armstrong charge at Al. In seconds, he had tackled Al to the ground. My eyes widened at how simple it looked for him.

I take back what I said about Armstrong not hurting a fly...

"You better watch it!" Al exclaimed as he threw his fists forward. Armstrong quickly caught them with his own.

"You're strong, but your hands are soft! You'll never win like this!" Armstrong remarked before picking Al up. I backed my torso up some(I still was on the railing), as I watched him toss Al, quite easily, onto the ground.

I looked over at Al, and saw Ed standing there. As I wondered how he got back to the house so fast, Ed and Al charged at Armstrong. Al once again grabbed a hold of Armstrong's hands with his own, but Ed slid down and kicked Armstrong in the leg. As Armstrong stumbled forward, Al took advantage of that and tossed Armstrong over his shoulder.

Armstrong smashed into the ground and the Elrics cheered. I smirked, mainly at Ed's horrible dancing, and looked over my shoulder. Hannah and Winry were staring at something. I couldn't see what, their backs were to me, but they both looked confused. Hannah especially. "What are you guys doing?" I asked.

They both looked back at me quickly. "N-Nothing," Hannah said, shaking her head, before heading outside. I rose a brow, and looked at Winry who had turned toward us. She looked down about something, before walking off. It was then I noticed Ed's clothes on the couch. His pocket watch was gone.

Did Winry take it? _Would_ she take it? Or is it missing?! As I pondered it over in my head, I looked at Hannah accusingly. "What?" She asked.

"Did Winry take Ed's pocket watch?" I asked her, looking at her suspiciously.

"Wha? No..!" She said nervously, looking ahead.

I looked ahead as well, lips pursed together, eyes closed. "In that case then, it's missing."

Hannah blinked, wide-eyed. "..What?! No way!" I nodded. "I.. I can't believe that! Missing?"

I nodded again, and slowly turned my head to her. "And you do realize since Winry _didn't take it_, you're the suspect." I looked back ahead, another snobby look on my face as I said, "So naturally you should be the one to find it."

"...You're right! Of course I'll find it! Right away," Hannah exclaimed, rushing inside the house. Still looking ahead, a smirk crawled onto my lips, and my shoulders shook from laughing.

This would be good.

**. . .**  
Third Point of View  
(The Almighty Powers This Writer Doth Possess.)

Hannah glanced to Winry, who seemed amused over all. "D-Don't laugh at me! I have to pretend to look for Ed's pocket watch because _you_ took it!"

Winry finished laughing, and sat up on her bed, stomach aching from the amusement. "Well can't you just tell her that you've found it?"

The brown haired girl sighed and shook her head. "No. Knowing Riley, she won't be satisfied with me just finding it. Not to mention she knows how bad I am at looking for stuff..."

"Hate to see how bad you are at looking for something that isn't lost then," Winry remarked, which caused her to be attacked by pillows. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"

Hannah panted after the attack, and plopped down beside her newly acquired friend. "...Can we give him his pocket watch anyways? I mean.. I just.. Feel guilty, you know?" She asked, a sudden seriousness over the two now.

The blonde-ette nodded. "Fine. I feel the same way. Besides, we need to tell him that we know."

A sudden question was sparked in her mind, and she asked, "Hey, what _do _we know? I mean, I don't know what October Third, 1910 means anyway."

Winry let out a sigh. "He probably wouldn't _want_ you to know, but now that you saw it... That's the day they burned their house down, and left us for Central," She explained.

Hannah blinked, and sighed, "I can't believe how bad that must have felt.. If Riley left my family and me for a state position, I'd probably kill her."

Unbeknown to the two girls, Riley was listening on the other side of the door. Her right eye twitched at Hannah's _somewhat_ bold statement; She knew that if Hannah was pissed enough, she could probably do some damage. Not to mention the fact she knew how to use a gun... But aside from that, Riley was slightly uncomfortable that Hannah and Winry had seen the date on Ed's pocket watch. She was sure Al didn't even know what the inside looked like, seeing as he _never_ opened it around them.

Winry nodded at Hannah's statement, "I wanted too, to Ed. And Al." She blinked as a sudden thought came to mind, and then looked at Hannah, "Are we going to tell anyone?"

Hannah "hm"ed, and sighed, "I don't know, but I do know that I won't be able to keep it from Riley.."

"We shouldn't tell her," Winry said boldly. Riley blinked in confusion.

"Wh-Why? We can trust her, you know.." Hannah stuttered out. Apparently she was just as confused as Riley was.

Winry shook her head at Hannah, "I know, but.. It's just..." She sighed bitterly, "It's nothing.. We can tell her."

Riley stared at the floor in confusion. She normally would have just shrugged it off, claiming it "protecting Ed", but Winry had a tone in her voice that Riley didn't think she liked very much. She let out a silent sigh, and walked off to help Pinako in the kitchen.

A few minutes after she had left, Winry and Hannah decided to give the pocket watch back to Ed. Stepping out of the room, Hannah followed Winry downstairs and out to the backyard, where Ed was washing. Hannah, as usual, blushed at the skin-show from a male, and looked away. The girls were completely silent as Ed turned the water off.

He turned around, and blinked when he saw them. "..What's going on...?" He asked. If Winry and Hannah were out here, where was Riley? And what was so important that they couldn't wait till he was dry and _fully-_clothed?

Hannah was already looking to the side, and Winry only looked to the ground. Both looked majorly guilty about something. "..I'm sorry Ed..," Winry said as she held out her hand. A pocket watch was in her hand. Ed's eyes widened in realization. _His_ pocket watch was in her hand.

He let out a sort of "Eh.." sound as he tried looking for it on him. Which, considering his clothing choice at the moment, was a hard task. "You two have some nerve!" Ed shouted at them, glaring.

"We're sorry, Ed... We shouldn't have looked," Hannah said guiltily.

Ed sighed and snatched the pocket watch from them. Looking at it, he mumbled, "It's stupid anyways.. Remembering something like that... Al doesn't even know. One tough survivor, huh? Having to carry around guilty motivation in my pocket. Like some little kid with a magic charm..."

"Hannah! Can you help me out for a second?!" Riley's voice carried to the backyard.

Hannah jerked, and sighed, walking off. She reached the side of the house when she heard Winry. "What's wasted?! How could you say that?! What are Grandma and me?! We've always had a home for you here, why do you keep shutting everything out?!" Hannah paused, and sighed. She knew she wasn't needed in this conversation. She looked ahead and saw Riley carrying several logs of firewood into the house.

She tripped on a rock, and as she fell, she tried keeping a hold of the wood, which only caused her head to hit the logs when she landed. Hannah smiled a bit when she saw her friend kicking and yelling at the logs. '_We're always invited home for the holidays, but Riley never comes with me. Is that what that is? Not feeling like family?_' Hannah sighed and shook her head. She knew that wasn't true. Riley considered everyone she was close to family. Hannah felt the same way, it's what kept them close. '_I'll ask her sometime... After all, Christmas is coming up_.'

**. . .**  
First Person Point of View  
(Glad you could make it.)

I sat at the table in the kitchen, thinking over some things. I had decided that later that day I was going to ask Winry about the whole bitter thing she had going on about me. I didn't even know if it was about me or not, which only gave me more reason to confront her.

Hearing footsteps come downstairs, I looked over to see Ed and Al. "Hey.. Want to go somewhere with us? Armstrong's coming too..," Ed asked.

Seeing as I had nothing better to do, I nodded and stood. But then Winry came in. "Um, sure," I told them, "But I'll catch up with you guys in a minute."

Ed and Al looked curious but had left with Armstrong like I asked anyway. I looked to Winry, who was fixing something to drink for her. "Can we talk privately, Winry?" I asked her.

She looked over at me with a raised brow. "Sure.. What's it about?" She asked as we headed outside, and to the side of the house.

"Ed's pocket watch," I answered simply, causing her eyes to widen. I would've pointed and laughed, but I wasn't in the mood to.

"..How... How'd you know about that?" Winry asked me, surprised.

I sighed, "I heard you and Hannah talking about it. I'm in no position to be mad at you for looking at it, but why did you want to keep it from me?"

She looked away. "I just... Didn't think it'd matter, is all." A lie. I could tell.

"Winry, if you don't look at me, it's not going to work," I explained to her.

I saw her fists clench a bit and she turned to face me. "...I..," She glanced to the left, and said, "I didn't want anyone else to know his secret."

I was silent as I examined her face. It sounded like a reasonable explanation, but she still refused to look me in the eye. Sighing, I repeated. "Winry-"

"Because you don't deserve to know!" She shouted at me. My eyes widened and I stepped back, caught off guard.

"What?"

She glared at me, a bit upset. "You and Hannah both! You don't know Edward as well I do, so what makes you think you deserve to know about his pocket watch?!" She began to tear up as she said, "I'm just protecting him... I don't trust you, alright? Just because he trusts you doesn't mean I should! How am I _supposed _to react? He just comes back one day bringing two girls I don't even know with him! You don't deserve to know anything about him..."

I looked to the ground in thought. '_He doesn't trust me, Winry.. Don't you know that?_' I thought as I slipped my hands in my pockets. Even though I felt he had every right to know anyone he damn well pleased, I felt she was right in some weird twisted way. '_No! She isn't right. I deserve to know anyone I want to, and so does he.. I've gotten so close to Ed, I'm _**_not_**_ letting her push me away from someone._'

"Winry."

She blinked, and looked up at me through misty eyes. But I didn't care. My protective side had kicked in, and I didn't care about whether she was crying or not. "Just because I've met him only recently.. It doesn't give you the right to judge me. When you first met Ed, did you know everything about him?" I asked, and she was silent. "No. You didn't. And look at how close you two are now. Just because I met him after you, doesn't mean I'm any less of a person than you are. At least I'm trying to get along with him and his family, unlike you are. I care about Ed as much as I can for just getting to know him. Be glad he's at least got someone around trying to protect him from actually harmful things. Stop being selfish..."

Winry's eyes widened and I turned around. "Thank you, Winry. Now I know that anything I learn about Ed will be from him only, which is just fine with me..," I growled at her before leaving.

Ed, Al, and Armstrong weren't very far away when I caught up with them. The brothers lead Armstrong and I to the remains of their house, which they had burned down five years prior. Al talked about a light their mother used to shine when it was time for them to come home. They reminisced and Armstrong and I watched.

"You boys are fooled. You do have a home waiting and caring for you..," Armstrong said. I felt a twinge of guilt at that. It was a home, with a family for them. A family I had probably gained the distrust of. Ed and Al looked back at him, and smiled.

We were walking back to the house now, when Al had stopped and gasped. "Brother, look!" He said, pointing to the house. We all looked over and saw Winry standing on the second floor balcony, flashing a light on and off. I still felt guilty, so this didn't help. Shortly after, Al ran toward the house. Ed smiled and followed him. Armstrong and I kept at our normal pace.

"Riley?" Armstrong asked before he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright? You're quieter than usual..."

I watched Ed and Al, and sighed. "I'm fine, Armstrong. Thanks for asking," I replied.

He nodded with a smile and said, "If you don't want to tell me, remember you have Hannah and the Elrics, despite how recent you've met them..."

I sighed again, and glanced to him. "...You do realize I'm not the one with the identity crisis, right?"

He blinked, and an abnormally huge bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. "...Right," He said, patting my shoulder.

**. . .**

As Pinako talked to Ed, Al, and Armstrong; Winry and I looked at each other. "...I thought about what you said, and I realized you were right," She started, "It's yours and Ed's life, and I can't judge it. And I am grateful that he has someone to watch over him. It's relaxing to know. But I still won't change how I feel. I can't change it. I don't have any reason to trust you yet, and personally I don't think Ed does either, but he does. I can't change that either..."

I watched her a while, and nodded. "I understand. And I still don't feel any different about you too," I said. Smiling slightly, I held my hand out. "Frenemies?" I asked her.

She smiled and nodded, taking her hand in mine, "Frenemies."

It was a pact. We'd agree to disagree on everything a friendship was based off, for the sake of Ed. We stepped away from each other, and she started talking to Ed. I glanced to Hannah, and she smiled at me. "I'm surprised you handled that so well," She said, to which I glared. I wasn't _that_ bad at communicating.

"Yeah, well _somebody_ didn't bother looking for Ed's pocket watch!" I exclaimed, glaring at her.

She jumped and widened her eyes. "..O-Oh no! We have to.. Look.. For.. His pocket watch!" She shouted, about to run in.

I went deadpan and grabbed her arm, "I already know all about it...!"

She blinked a few times and then hit me on the head, "Why didn't you tell me then?! I was about to run around the house for nothing!"

I giggled, "Well you still could if you're _that_ disappointed.."

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

**Up Next on '**The Sulfur Alchemist**'...**  
It's Halloween!  
Riley gets a camera.  
A library is murdered. DX  
Riley feels guilty.  
They fight.  
Shock.  
XD

Again! I made another arrow! How gnarly am I?

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	17. Diecisiete! That's 17!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Vampire Note:** To the first comment, it did? ... (Sorry, I have a bad memory!) To the second, yeah, I had forgotten to put that in. A reader brought it to my attention, and so I put it in the Author's Note above the next chapter.

**The Elemental Alchemist Reyna:** Ah, laziness. I understand completely. XD Haha, thanks! And I'll be sure to try my hardest not to stop(I have tendencies to quit half-way through, and this is the farthest I've gotten on an FMA story, so I'm happy.) LAWLZ! I'm glad you liked the joke! I wondered what people's reaction would be(and who was reading the Author's Notes, haha.) While I haven't seen or read Twilight, I have no desire to do so. So that'll never happen.

**Kaijukote:** Haha! I figured Twilight is everywhere else, why not make a joke of it?  
Yesh. _Very_ biblical sounding. Mwahaha.  
Huzzah to frenemies! Seeing as Winry isn't in the story for about another few chapters, it'll be a while until their respectful hatred develops more, but I'm definitely planning it out.  
Thanks! I'm glad you think so. I agree, she is cute. X3

**Emalee Roze:** Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Yeah, I think those characters are awesome too.

**Mira Hinder:** Thanks! Haha, I'm sure she has thousands more she plans on using. (Insert Evil Planning Here.)

**Want to be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

Now, I don't know if Halloween's celebrated during this time, so I'm compromising. It's something Central has decided to have every year, a month before Christmas. The story may not have as much original content as other chapters. Apparently it was a bad day to write. Oh, and I _do_ know that his name is Denny Brosh, just to make this clear before you start reading.

Teh Almighty Riley Mauler is Mine! You Hear Me?!  
Teh Too-Short-To-Be-AlmostNot-Funny Edward is NOT Mine! You Hear Me?!

* * *

_In Memory of Mr. Guy...  
I still have the barbie doll you gave me when I was ten.  
Rest In Peace_

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Seventeen:**_  
Riley's Halloween Present_

I let out a giggle as we sat on the train. The others blinked, and looked over at me. "I know you want a new camera, Riley, but-"

I interrupted Hannah with, "It's not the camera I'm giggling about! I thought _you_ of all people knew that!"

Hannah blinked a few times as she looked at the table Ed and Al had their cards. Finally, realization struck her. She sighed, "You're right. I should've known.."

"What is it?" Armstrong asked, sitting at the booth next to ours.

"Halloween..," Hannah commented with another sigh.

Ed blinked. "Wha? That thing Central celebrates?" He asked, causing me to nod furiously.

"Yes! It's an event Central celebrates every year! It's right before Christmas too! And to make it even better, it's in just a few days," I explained excitedly.

They watched me curiously. "I've never seen her so giddy before..," Al mumbled.

I glared at him, "I heard that! And I can't help it. Just thinking of Halloween gets me excited."

Shortly after that conversation, the train had stopped. I was still excited about Halloween. It was a fun time for me. It was the main reason I liked Central so much. Candy, Scaring Little Kids, Stories, Scaring Little Kids... It practically fit me!

We stepped out of the train, and Ed giggled, which sort of scared me. He isn't the giggle type. But I shrugged it off and looked back around. "CENTRAL!" He shouted, causing me to jump, letting out a small scream as I did.

I panted as I glared at him. "What the hell was that for?!" I shouted.

"Ah, don't be a wuss Riley," He said, causing me to fume, as he began to walk off. "What are we standing around for? Let's go get that camera so we can get to the library!" He exclaimed, walking off.

I stopped and watched him. Did he seem.. Happy? I looked to Hannah and Al. "What did you give him?" I asked Al, who only sighed in return.

"What's the rush? The library won't run off," Armstrong said, which lead me to assume it actually _could_ go somewhere in the first place.

Ed smiled wide, "After all this searching, we've finally found a lead! We can't just sit on our butts now."

I shrugged, "Whatever gets me my camera sooner, I'm fine!"

We all stopped walking when we saw two officers standing there, saluting us. One was a woman, with short dark hair and a long black trench coat over her uniform. The other, a man, was taller and had the same hairstyle as Ed, minus the braid. The woman smiled, "Major Armstrong sir! We've been sent to meet you here, as requested."

Ed and I glanced at each other, then to Armstrong, who saluted her back. "Well done, troops," He looked to us and said, "I have to go back to Headquarters for my other duties. These two will be guarding you." He looked to them, "Introduce yourselves!"

The woman continued to salute, but at Al. Ed went to a corner of the station, as a sudden blue air hung over him. It sort of scared me. He seemed to be doing that a lot today... "Lieutenant Maria Ross, sir!"

The man saluted, "And I'm Sargeant Denny Brosh, sir!"

They both eased, and said in unison, "It's an honor to serve you, FullMetal Alchemist Sir!"

Block laughed a bit, "Wow! You certainly live up to your name, Sir! When they say FullMetal, they really aren't kidding!"

I sighed, and patted Ed's back sympathetically. "It's alright Ed... Anyone who _really_ pays attention would notice you're the FullMetal Alchemist..!" He glared at me, and my brow twitched, "..Sorry..."

The two officers turned to Hannah and I, so I perked up, _completely forgetting Ed_. "And you two are?" Block asked us.

I smiled, hands on my hips. "Riley Mauler, the HQ News Journalist! This is my trusty sidekick, Hannah!"

Hannah glared at me as the two officers blinked. "Oh? I read your articles all the time, they're very interesting!" Block exclaimed.

I grinned madly and threw an arm around him. "I like him, Ed!"

Block rubbed the back of his neck and looked to Al, "Not to be offensive, Sir, but the Edward doesn't suit you, it's surprising!"

"You're talking to the wrong guy..," Al said awkwardly.

"I'm used to it by now," He whispers gravely.

"R-Really?" Block asked, "This little guy?" I sighed, shaking my head as Ed turned his head toward Block, his eyes inhumanly wide. "Eh, S-Sorry Sir! It's just – I thought you'd be - ...F-fuller, and more.. More metal!"

Ed groaned and stood quickly, "Shut up! Come on Major, we don't babysitters anymore, we've been fully repaired!"

Armstrong spoke. "Sorry Edward, I'd stop it if I could."

"We've informed the Major that Scar has been spotted around Central again," Maria Ross started. My eyes widened. Firstly, he was here?! Secondly, _again_?! What the hell was going on around Central? The continued talking as I thought to my last encounter with him.

Now that Scar knew who I was, would he spare me because of my parents? Or would he disregard that because I was a state? Either way, I had to make sure Hannah wasn't around when he popped up. _If_ he popped up. Not only for her safety, but mine and the brothers' as well.

"Wait! We have a car waiting for you!" I heard Block shout. I looked up to see him running after Ed.

"Sorry about my brother," Al started, causing me to be confused, "He's like that with everyone, don't take it personally."

Blinking, I looked between them, and then to Hannah. "What did I miss?" She shook her head at me and followed Al, who had walked off.

. . .

We were inside a shop now, one that had several cameras around. I was, to say the least, ecstatic. Smiling as I looked over every inch of the store, I didn't care if Ed, or Block was watching. This was _paradise_.(Hannah, Al, and Maria Ross had went to the bakery across the road. Ed wanted to go, but I wouldn't allow it.)

Blinking, I looked over at Ed. "Are you sure I can get the one I want?" I asked, eyes narrowed.

Ed sighed and nodded, "Yes, Riley, you can get the one you want. As long as it-"

I interrupted with, "Then I _can't_ get the one I want."

His brow twitched as he glared at me. "Just pick a camera," He growled. I sighed and nodded.

Looking to the door, I glanced to the man at the register. He seemed to be very pleased with the fact that I wanted everything in the store. Walking to him, I smiled, "Can I see the back?"

He smirked, and nodded, "Sure!" With that, he lead me into the back room, which had boxes upon boxes of cameras, stands, film, lenses, and everything else I could use for a camera. I was wrong earlier – _This_ was paradise.

I bit my lip. I could have gotten a camera here, man did I want a camera here, but before we had left Resembool, I had retrieved my camera remains from the trash. I just couldn't part with it. I walked over to a table in the room, and dumped the remains of my camera down on the table. Digging into my pocket for the piece I had stolen from the camera a few chapters back, my eye twitched when I didn't find it. "No," I mumbled, looking around in my pockets. It wasn't there. Dammit!

The man went wide-eyed. "Whoa, what'd you do to that thing?!" He exclaimed.

My brow twitched and I said simply as I put the pieces in a pile, "A serial killer smashed it to bits with his magic splody arm..."

He looked at me as if I was crazy, but I ignored it as I smiled at him, "Think you could fix it?"

He stared wide-eyed. "No way! I can't even tell it's a camera!"

I glared and 'hmph'ed before looking around at the cameras. Finding the exact same brand I had before, I grabbed the box and handed it to him. "I want this one then," I said simply.

The man nodded and headed to the front room while he said, "Don't want a different one, I see.."

I nodded as I followed and said to Ed, "I want that one!"

Ed blinked a few times, and looked the camera over. The man rose his brows, until Ed asked how much it was. He smiled, "Nine-hundred, easy."

"N-Nine hundred?!" Ed and Block exclaimed.

I sighed, "Come on Ed! That's a steal for that camera! If it helps, I'll pay half!"

Ed sighed and shook his head, "Don't worry about it..." As he handed the man the money, he said, "I owed you a camera, so I'm getting you one."

Smiling, I nodded at him. "Thanks, Ed..." He nodded at me and we left the shop. Hannah, Al, and Ross were waiting in the car. I quickly hopped in next to Ed, as the two officers sat in front.

"I can't believe it took two hours just to get here, find a camera, and leave...," Hannah said, shaking her head. I nodded in agreement. The car drove off, and within minutes, we had reached the library.

Only one problem.

There wasn't a library anymore.

Well, obviously there were still libraries, but you know.. There wasn't one where we were. It was in rubble. Charred rubble. Charred, bookless rubble. Charred bookless rubble that _used_ to be a library. So it was like.. Library-less... Rubble.

Oh shit.

"What the...?!" Block exclaimed as we pulled up.

"You've got to be kidding...!" Ed mumbled, staring at the charred bookless library-less rubble with wide eyes.

An officer standing by walked up toward us and saluted, "Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh, right?"

They saluted in returned and Block nodded. "What happened here?" Maria Ross asked.

The officer sighed, "Major Armstrong asked me to stick around to tell you.. There was a fire, burning down the entire library. According to witnesses, it was Scar. The receptionist at the time didn't even see them. She managed to get out just in time though."

"S-Scar?" I asked him. "..Wh-When'd it happen?" I asked.

The officer looked at me and said, "About an hour ago."

I nodded and looked to the rubble. Ed was standing next to it now, and picked up a book, which crumbled to ash in his hands. "Our clue burned away," He growled. "Dammit," He growled, kicked a stair, which turned to ash when he did. He twitched and went back to the car, slamming the door. Hannah and Al sighed and followed him.

Maria Ross got into the car, but I didn't bother moving. I continued staring at the rubble. "There has to be a way..," I mumbled, thinking. Alchemy wouldn't work, I doubted. It's been an hour, wind has most likely blown some ash away. And without the perfect amount, it'd be useless.

Block placed his hand on my shoulder, staring at the rubble with wide eyes. "This stinks... Man, if only we had gotten here before it happened..," He said.

My eyes widened in realization. He was right. Sighing as I faced the ground, I glared at Block, I muttered, "That doesn't help me, Block."

His eye twitched, "..It's Brosh, ma'am."

"I don't care..," I muttered before walking back to the car. Block sighed and got in the car as well. Block was dead right. It was my fault that we didn't get our clue. Because of me and my stupid camera, they were once again at a dead-end.

Hannah seemed to know what I was thinking, as she patted my shoulder.

. . .

"These are the only books we've been able to find," A man said as he handed a small crate to us. Inside were books, about half of each of them burnt.

"They're in horrible condition!" Block exclaimed, causing me to send him a glare. He shivered and stepped to the other side of Maria Ross(For some reason, I felt weird just calling her Maria, or Ross. So I settled for Maria Ross.)

Ed began to pick books up, looking at them and through them when a woman walked into the room, looking at a folder. "We found no books written by Tim Marcoh in the main library," She explained, rubbing her temples. Looking up to Ed, she said, "If it was moved from a branch, it should be in the records.

I let out another sigh, a bit hopeful. Maybe it wasn't even in the library to begin with! _That's what I hoped..._ "Wait a second," Ed started with a new hope, "Isn't it possible it could be checked out right now?"

_Great going Edo!_ I thought before looking to the woman, expecting and hoping she'd say yes. "I suppose.. But the circulation records were destroyed in the fire," She replied.

I looked to the books and mumbled, "And what are the chances someone would be polite enough to return it now? Not only that, but would they know _where_?"

Maria Ross sighed, and nodded in agreement. "She's right. Most people would keep the books they've checked out after something like this has happened, out of either greed or confusion," She explained.

"I guess we'll never find it now," Al said sadly.

I bit my lip in guilt; Was it possible to feel any more guilty? I trailed off in thought as they continued. When I came back to reality, Ed was looking up from the ground. "Last time I was there, I remembered a mousy girl with glasses on?" Ed said, looking at her expectedly.

She nodded, shutting the folder. "Oh, I know! You're talking about Sheska. But you must not have been there lately, because she was let go."

"She was an odd duck," The man said, speaking up. We turned to him as he continued, "She never really fit in."

Even if I had just heard of her, I liked her. "She always had her nose in a book," The woman added.

"Could she possibly remember?" I asked them.

"Possibly, but I doubt it," The woman said, giving us Sheska's address.

As we walked down the hall, I sighed and slowed down so I walked behind everyone. Ed noticed, and slowed down as well. "What's wrong?" He asked.

I paused, and glanced at him, "I'm sorry, Ed... About wasting time looking at cameras." He blinked in surprise, and I continued, "If we had just went straight to the library, we would have gotten Marcoh's book."

"It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have crushed the camera," He said.

Shaking my head, I said, "It is too! You're probably ending up at a dead end because of me!" He glared at me, and suddenly hit me. Which, of course surprised me. Not only did I not expect a punch, but it was surprising he could reach! The others, upon hearing fist-face contact, turned around as I fell to the ground. "What the hell?!" I shouted, holding my cheek as I glared up at him.

"It's not your fault, idiot! If we had gone straight to the library, we could've ran into Scar, ever think about that?!" He shouted down at me.

Blinking a bit, I looked to the ground. "Well, no... But what if we had grabbed the book and left?!" I shouted, jumped up to punch him. He fell back as I hit his face, and he fell to the ground. I leaned back against the wall on the other side as he glared at me.

"It doesn't matter! Scar most likely would've seen us! Why else would he have been in there if he wasn't looking for something?! For all we know, he _could_ have been there for two hours! And by the time we would've gotten there, he'd most definitely be there, so shut up. Your camera may have saved our lives..," He said.

I sighed, rubbing my cheek. "I guess so..," I mumbled before glaring at him again, "But you still didn't have to punch me!"

"Well you punched me, so we're even," He grumbled, returning my glare.

"Uh, guys?" Hannah asked. Ed and I snapped our head over to them, seeming to have forgotten that they were there. Hannah sighed, "Weren't we going somewhere?"

"Right..," Ed said, standing to leave. I followed, grumbling about my sore cheek as he did the same.

. . .

Block knocked on the door as we stood around him. "The lights are on inside..," Ed mumbled, trailing off. I groaned, knowing what he was going to do. "I'm going in," Ed said firmly.

"You can't do that!" Maria Ross exclaimed, but Ed ignored her as he opened the door, peering in.

Ed gasped, "It's like a library in here!" I rose a brow, and then he opened the door for us. My eyes widened – He was right. Hundreds of books were piled in hundreds of columns all throughout the room. This was close to paradise. It was... It was...

"Gnarly," I muttered under my breath.

"I can't believe somebody actually lives in that," Block exclaimed.

Ed ignored us both as he shouted, "Are you here, Miss Sheska?" When no one replied, he repeated, "Sheska?!" We were about to leave, when I saw a pile of books. It was odd. All the other books were in columns, neat and stacked. Why were these, the ones in the middle, scattered about then? Some were even open. All the others were closed. Shrugging, I turned to follow them.

"_Help me_! _Please_!" Someone faintly shouted out. Ed and I stopped and turned around.

Everyone let out a yell of surprise, and we rushed to the pile(the same one I was curious about, mind you.) We began to throw books off the pile, and a few minutes later, we were done. We then made some tea and sat down, Hannah, Ed, the officers and I panting. "Thank you all, really. They always said I had my head in a book, but I never thought they meant literally..," Sheska said.

I snorted, mumbling, "Stupid people.. Jinxed you, I bet!"

Sheska's eyes widened as she looked at me, "You think so?!"

Ed sighed and spoke up. "Sheska.. You used to work the library's first branch, right?"

"That's right!" Sheska sighed and continued, "Unfortunately, they fired me for what they call lackluster performance. I was reading instead of working. I really needed that job too. My mom's sick and I've got to pay her bills! But being surrounded by all those books-"

I interrupted her dully, "It was like sticking a wild coyote in a room full of chickens already cooked?"

The girl blinked, and looked over at me. Sighing, she nodded, "Yeah... I couldn't control myself.."

"Sorry to hear that... Let me just cut to the chase," Ed started, "Do you remember ever seeing a book written by Tim Marcoh while you were working there? It's really important."

"By a Tim Marcoh..?" Sheska asked.

Ed nodded, "Yeah. It probably would have been a thick research journal."

Sheska then began mumbling to herself, finger by her chin in thought. Finally, she pointed and exclaimed, "Oh yeah! I remember now! It was a leather bound volume with plenty of detail!"

We all gasped slightly and Ed asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I remember all the books. Especially the ones in the back," She explained, nodded. I blinked in surprise. _All _the books? Not only that, but..

"Damn..," I muttered, "Well then that book is definitely a goner. There's no use even looking for it..."

Ed nodded in agreement, "We'll never get to read it..."

Sheska sniffed slightly, "I know how you guys feel... It's so tragic never finding a book!" She began to cry, and Ed twitched.

"Don't be like that, Sheska.. At least now we know the book existed.. And now I have an idea!" Ed said, smiling.

Not only did the sudden mood change scare me, but so did the "I have an idea" part...

. . .

We stood in front of the charred, library-less, bookless rubble again. "I'm going to transmute these ashes to their original form!" Ed stated, staring hard at the rubble.

I rose a brow and banged on Al's arm for a drum roll. Al smiled nervously at me as Ed shook his head. "Incredible! You can really do something like that?!" Block exclaimed, completely flabbergasted. Hehe.. Funny word. Ed clapped, ignoring him.

I shrugged at Block, "Only if all the pieces are there. Which I doubt because of the..." Everyone's eyes widened as a wind blew, blowing away much of the rubble. "Well, there's your example," I muttered dully.

"..Is that what I was supposed to be watching for?" Block asked, to which I shook my head.

Sighing, I said, "I'd retort to that but the mood isn't right..."

All of us moped a bit, glaring at the ground, when suddenly... "W-Wait a minute, don't give up just yet!" Hannah exclaimed. We all looked over at her, me partly surprised that she was there. _She's too forgettable..,_ I thought begrudgingly as she looked to Sheska, "You said you remembered _all_ the books, right? That's impossible unless you have pho-"

"Photographic memory!" I shouted, raising my hand high into the air.

Hannah's brow twitched as she glared at me, "Yes, Riley... Photographic memory..."

I smiled brightly and looked to Sheska, "Right?"

She blinked and nodded, "Well, yes. I do..." She gasped and smiled, "I see! Yes! I could most definitely reproduce the book for you!"

"Why didn't you say so?" Ed asked, exasperated.

"I was always made fun of for it..," Sheska started, "But if I can be of help..!"

. . .

I let out a yawn as we sat in a hotel room. I would've gotten a military room, but with Hannah being here, I told Ed and the others we'd meet up with them later. Brosh and Maria Ross didn't like the idea, but Hannah interjected that I had alchemy, and she had a gun(which Block gladly loaned to her for the night) if anything happened to us. But I could tell she was a little nervous, especially after hearing of my last encounter with Scar.

Drying my hair with a fluffy towel(which I settled with naming Mr. Fluff), I glanced to Hannah. She was reading. Or, well, trying to at least. "What's wrong Hanners?" I asked casually as I put on jeans.

She sighed, "Just thinking. What if we come across that Scar guy while we're here? Look at what he did to Ed and Al.. And to your camera. You're lucky it wasn't you, you know!"

I nodded. "I know, I know.. He's dangerous and we should be careful. But if he wants to find us, trust me, he definitely will find a way to. We just have to be prepared for it."

Hannah bit her lip and looked at the drawer the gun was in. "I guess you're right..," She said, before heading into the bathroom for her shower. I threw my hair towel down and sighed again. I hoped Scar _wouldn't_ find us. If he did, my Military status most likely would be found out by Hannah.

As I placed the hair towel in a hamper the hotel provided, and went to grab a shirt, I heard Hannah scream. My stomach felt like it fell about five feet as I rushed into the bathroom. She stood beside me, against the wall. A towel around her, she pointed to the window. "N-Nails...," She whispered with wide eyes.

_Nails_?

I shook my head and ran to the window, sticking my head out of it. Despite wondering why the window faced an _alley_ of all things, I looked right and left, just in time to see a figure running around the corner. "HEY!" I shouted, jumping out the window and darting after her.

As I turned the corner, I gasped and jumped backwards as I saw something shooting toward me. I fell to the ground as I saw a... Thing.. extended in the air in front of me. I looked closer and upon inspection, I saw a nail. _A nail_... What the hell?!

Staring at it with wide eyes, I came to a stand and saw the nail disappear. I reacted quickly and ran around the corner to follow it. "Get back here!" I shouted as I ran after the figure. She ran down another alley, and I growled, speeding up.

Turning at the alley, I skidded to a stop when I saw a dead end. The figure not in sight. Damn. "What was that about..?" I came to wonder as I walked back to the hotel, ignoring the curious stares. I didn't blame them. My torso was in a friggin towel.

. . .

"It's all here! As you can see, it's a pretty big book, so it took me three days to get it all down," Sheska exclaimed happily, pointing to the huge pile of notebooks.

My jaw was dropped as I stared. "All this is Marcoh's research? You sure?" He asked, surprised.

She laughed, "Yep! Detailed instructions for everything from appetizing appetizers to delectable desserts! Tim Marcoh's one _thousand_ recipes for making magic in the kitchen!"

There was a slight pause in the room. Followed by gasps.

_Food_? _Food_?! My teacher and godfather sent us on a _food_ hunt?! My brow twitched after the second passed. I knew there was most likely a coded message, but still, _food_?!

Maria Ross grabbed one of the notebooks and began reading off the recipe. It was simple, and nothing really special. She 'heh'ed, and said, "Nothing magical about this recipe..."

I saw Block lean toward Sheska and ask, "Think you got the wrong author?"

She shook her head, "Not a chance! I reproduced what he wrote in those journals word for word!"

Hannah nodded, "I doubt someone with photographic memory would get it wrong..."

"It was for nothing then..," Maria Ross said, "Sorry FullMetal.."

"Maybe not..," Ed said before looking at me, "You know Marcoh more than anyone. Don't you think he intended for us to get these?"

I nodded at his question as I grabbed a notebook. "It _wasn't_ for nothing. Whatever he wanted us to find out is in here somewhere. We just have to think like him."

Ed smiled as he looked through the one in his hands, before looking to Sheska, "You really are an amazing talent.. Lieutenant," He started, looking to Maria Ross, "Make sure she's properly compensated!" He handed her a paper and began giving instructions and opening the door. "Al, Riley, come on!" He said before running off.

"Right!" Al said as he, Hannah, and I grabbed as many books we could before following. By the time Hannah and I managed to balance our books, Maria Ross and Ed were talking.

"The ability to do your job is _your_ problem, Lieutenant Ross. Getting the Philosopher's Stone is mine," Ed explained. He walked around her and I sighed, following him.

. . .

"So this is Marcoh's research..." Ed said as we stood at a table, looking at the notebooks.

Ed had taken off his trench coat now, and I had untied my jacket from my waist. Both of them were laying in a pile in the corner of the square room. Hannah's purse was beside the pile. "You really think the secret to the stone is in here?" Al asked.

We both nodded. "Well he was bound to write it in a secret code, so not just any citizen could read it. Sure, it's an Alchemist's library, but obviously others could break in, example being a few days ago... And what other code but cooking? Alchemy _was_ born in the kitchen, right? Knowing Marcoh, this was actually probably the easiest code he could've used."

And with that, we began to search. Ed and Al went to look at other books, but I got out an empty notebook and began reading. I already had a few theories in mind, so I didn't bother with other books. Marcoh himself had taught me about five different decoding skills, so those would be the first I'd try. After a while, I noticed Hannah was even more confused then when she grabbed the first notebook. Sighing, I looked up at her and smiled, "Say, why don't you go look for a Halloween costume?"

She smiled a bit, "Trick-Or-Treating while you guys are working?"

I nodded, "You could use it. I'd go with you to help you from looking too old for it, but they need me more."

She nodded as she grabbed her purse, "Don't worry, Riley.. And thanks.. I just don't understand this stuff." I watched as she left, and got back to work. I heard Block offer to follow her, and then two sets of footsteps walk off.

. . .

It was nighttime now, and we were all tired. My first five tries didn't work(well my first possibly could have, but it was taking too much time and all the different ingredients would have lead up to a butt load of money needed.)

"Wakey Wakey!" I heard a familiar voice shout.

We looked up and I smiled, "Hey Maes!"

He smiled as Ed and Al perked up. "What's with not coming by earlier? Been too busy?" Ed asked, smirking.

"It's these damn Scar spottings lately. It's got us chasing our own tail!" Maes exclaims. He looked to Al and said, "I see you got the full body repair you needed!"

Al nodded and then Maria Ross came inside. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," She states, causing us all to turn to her. She salutes and says, "If there were an attack here, there would be no way to assure their safety as we've been ordered. They should return to the command center, now."

I sighed as Ed replied to that, "I told you Ross, don't get in my way!"

She ignored him and continued, "Lieutenant Colonel, as long as Scar is at large, our State Alchemists are our top priority."

Maes sighed and crossed his arms, "Sorry Ed, but I'm afraid Lieutenant Ross does have a point."

"Don't say that!" Ed groaned out.

"But, then again, this really isn't my jurisdiction. Why don't you take it up with Major Armstrong?" Maes asked.

Quickly, Ed and I both jumped up, "No!" Maria Ross interjected as well and the three of us began to protest. Maria Ross cleared her throat, regaining her posture after a moment, and Ed looked to Maes. "Lieutenant Colonel.. We're close to it now, I can feel it," He explained, before whispering, "I'm begging..!"

"What I'd like to do," Maes started, "Is give you extra protection. But between finding Scar and scrambling to replace the case files that were destroyed in the fire... My men are completely tied up right now..."

Ed's eyes widened, "All your case files? They were stored in the First Branch too?"

"Yeah... All of it," Maes answered, running fingers through his hair.

Ed smirked, "Really?... You're in luck!"

Maes rose a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Come with me," Ed said as he began to leave. Al and Maes followed, but I held my book up and began going through it. "Riley?"

I looked up and shrugged at Ed, "I think I'll stay here to keep looking. Just get back soon, when I figure this out, there better be someone here for me to rub it in to." Ed smirked and nodded, as they all left.

Sighing, I plopped down on a couch and began to read. And read. And read.

Normally this would be fun for me, see, but here's the thing.

I was pretty much reading cook books.

I hate cooking.

Put two and two together, and you have sleep.

Just before I fell asleep, though, I figured out what Marcoh had been trying to say.

And I _didn't_ like it.

. . .

"DAMMIT!"

I jerked awake, falling off the chair in the process. Looking wildly around me, I relaxed when I saw Ed with his fists on the table, glaring at the floor. I sighed. He knew. "I get it now... Why they call this quest the Devil's errand... Why they quit their research or were driven insane...," Ed growled.

I began to stand and walk to him, throwing off the coat that was placed over me. "The secret ingredient... Is live human beings," He spat.

Hannah and Al had gasped. I only tried peering at his face through his bangs. "Ed..?" I mumbled.

"Just when I thought... Just when I thought it was in our grasp..."

* * *

Happy Mother's Day to Every Mother Out There.  
(_And R.I.P. To Mr. Guy _[_Saturday, May 9th, 2009_]_._)

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	18. Juuhachi! That's 18!

Heh. Guess what? I am going to MomoCon's Spring Cosplay Photoshoot. If you are too, you may see me there. I'll be SuperTobi(Super being from Superman. Tobi being from Naruto.)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Kaijukote:** Yesh! Hughes is gnarly. LAWLZ! One of the best sarcastic wits I've ever read! Hehe, yeah, The Elrics seem to have quite a few "It Sucks To Be You" moments in their life.

**WhiteWingAlchemist:** Well, I personally call him Brosh, like his name is. But when I was viewing the episode over, and he introduced himself, I could've _sworn_ he said his name was Block. Block can sometimes be used to describe a moron, so I figured Riley would be the type of person to mistake his name for Block. She normally would've corrected it, but with the whole, "Aw man, if we had gotten here sooner!" Comment he made, she didn't really care. XD

**Emalee Roze:** Yeah, that's a really intense moment. But that's what makes FullMetal Alchemist so good, neh? Haha! Yeah, they both got a little psychical when it came down to it. XD

**Mira Hinder:** Lawlz! It sure seems like a lot of people when you think about it. o.O Yeah, Ed giggling is just kind of creepy. It's not just Ed either, it's Vic Mignogna as well... When he giggles, I get scared. XD It sounds like cackling in disguise.

On a side note, to **AnimeFanGirl167**, I will be posting your Nicole reference in just a few chapters! I'm so sorry I haven't done so yet, but I keep forgetting. So in order to _not_ forget this time, I've already written it down.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

I need some help, dudes. I hate this story's summary. Every time I read it, I want to cry. I'm planning on changing it, I just don't know what to put, so if you have any ideas... (Winking Here) XD

If I owned FullMetal Alchemist, you would know my last time.  
(To those who do indeed know my last name, I still do not own FullMetal Alchemist.)  
If I owned Riley and Co., you would know my first name. Hi, my name is Taylor. Look at that, you know my first name!

* * *

**The Sulfur Alchemist  
Chapter Eighteen:**  
_Memoirs of an Ishbalin_

Screeching.

Annoying, ratty ole' screeching.

That's what I heard. It was annoying about five hours ago, now it was just background music. I was laying in Ed's bed, covers to my shoulders as I stared at the ceiling. Hannah was in Al's bed, fast asleep, and the brothers were on the couch. The eerie atmosphere was killing me. Well, it _was_. Now, it'd killed me and brought me back from the dead to torture me some more. I felt numb. I'm sure Ed could say something different though.

"God must really hate people who go against him...," Ed muttered. I had drifted off into thought again, thinking of something. All I knew was, if I didn't think of something soon, I was going to feel sicker and sicker. Tuning back in, I heard him say, "Face it Al. It's going to be this way our whole lives.."

Glancing over to the boys, I saw Al look at Ed. "Don't say that," Al said softly, but firmly.

I slowly sat up, and nodded in agreement, holding the covers close to me for warmth. "Seriously Ed, don't. Thing's 'll change, just like always. You just have to give it time," I murmured, joining in.

Ed rolled to his side, and I could've sworn I heard him mumble under his breath, "Great, I'm getting advice from a girl who lies to her best friend." My eyes narrowed, but I didn't say anything in fear of Hannah waking and hearing. He let out a quiet sigh and said, "I'm sorry Al. I thought we'd go back to normal, and it would've all been okay..."

"It still will be!" Al said as he turned all the way around to face Ed. "We'll find the stone, Brother. We will! And we'll get our bodies back to normal, and be happy. People say you're a dog of the military... That you sold your soul to get this far.. But that isn't true! It didn't stop us, and this won't either. We've worked too hard."

I let out a small smile at Al. I honestly didn't see how Ed could possibly survive without him. He was the foundation of Ed...

...

I'm getting _way_ too deep for my liking.

. . .

Al and I had stuck ourselves back on Paper Duty, as we were going through several papers from Marcoh's journal, and books we had gotten from the library. Al had books such as, "The Foundation of Alchemic Equations", "What Makes Chemicals React", and so on and so forth. I had things like, "Stones: 101", "Masters of Alchemy and their Ability", and such.

Ed was laying on the couch, not even facing us.

The lazy ass.

All I could hear at first was that stupid fan and Al's armor moving back and forth. "Brother?" Al asked, breaking the silence. When Ed didn't reply, I sighed, getting closer to smacking sense into him. Which considering our last little fight, I was being nothing less than literal. "Let's look at it again. Start back at the beginning," Al said desperately.

Which only strengthened my, "If Ed Doesn't Cheer Up, I'm Kicking That Scrawny Little Ass That's Too Lazy To Help His Younger Brother" mood.

"I've looked at it enough," Ed muttered in response.

Al wasn't giving up. "But.. There's a chance we misread something. Maybe we got it wrong." Normally, I'd be cheering Al on till Ed gave in and got up. But something about the atmosphere in the room made me a little on the cautious side with doing so(And seeing as it's _me_ actually being cautious for once, that's saying something.)

"I said I've had enough," Ed said in irritation, his shoulder tensing up.

"But what if we're code's wrong?" Al asked instantly. He was getting more and more desperate by the minute. "Maybe that's not what it says! Or maybe we missed some key paragraph, like a loophole or something! We should read the whole thing again!" Al said, holding the papers tighter.

Within the next few seconds, Ed had spun around and shouted, "I said enough!" He threw his hand around, hitting a cup. The cup was tossed into Al's face, shattering into pieces. My eyes widened, but I had to jump to the left of the table as some pieces acted like bullets and backlashed in random directions.

Dead silence came.

It was as if the fan _itself_ was in so much shock that it shut up. _Thank God_.

I watched as papers fell to the ground from Al's hands. Finally registering the "Examine the others, you idiot!" that was coming from my brain, I looked up to see Ed staring at Al with wide eyes. I would've felt bad for him if Al wasn't so.. Innocent. It looked like neither one of them could tell what had happened.

"Brother..?" Al asked, voice wavering. I couldn't tell if it was from hurt, or fear.

The door opened, and Brosh and Maria Ross walked in. "Is something wrong, Sir?" Maria Ross asked. They both stopped walking when they reached where the clutter of papers had ended.

It was silent again.

Finally, Ed had said as if mentioning the weather, "It's just a broken cup, you can go back in the hall. Sorry Al." He then turned and laid back down.

_That_ was my final straw. Al was just trying to help, but Ed can be such an asshole sometimes! I didn't care if he meant it or not now, but that is _not_ the way you react if you _didn't_ mean it. I also didn't care if Al had forgiven him or not. _I_ hadn't, and until _I_ had, he was not escaping _my_ wrath. I glanced to Hannah to see her up. She stared at us all sadly, so I knew the cup shattering had woke her. She was smart, she had figured out what happened. She was also smart enough to figure out what I was ready to say.

"Ri-"

I interrupted her as I glared at Ed, "_Just_ a broken cup? _Sorry_? That's all you've got to say?!"

"Not now Riley," Ed muttered, not facing me.

"No!" I shouted, "I've been at the sidelines lately for you, Ed! For you and your brother, but this is it. I'm stepping in! I don't give a shit about the results from Marcoh's journal, and you shouldn't either. There's always more than one way! It's not the end of the world, and it's _not_ big enough to hurt the only family you've got left, Ed! Have some decency and mope without bringing everyone that cares about you down! Al just cares, and you're shrugging him off like he's trash, and I'm sick of it!"

"Riley..!" Hannah said.

Sighing, I stood and left the room, muttering about needing some air, and about how Hannah should have fun trick-or-treating.

**With The Others**  
(Because Riley isn't there to see them.)

It was quiet again after Riley had left. Hannah was a bit upset about the fighting going on between everyone(Mainly Riley and Ed. They've never really fought before, and within the past two days, they have _twice_.) and the Lieutenants were worried about the brothers. Al couldn't help but agree with Riley, but he wasn't thinking it as angrily as her.

Ed agreed too.

He knew Riley was right, but he refused to _believe _it.

"She'll get over it," He mumbled, not looking away from the back of the couch.

While Hannah had the urge to bite back with, "And what if she doesn't?" She was silent; She knew this wasn't the time for that. And she knew that eventually Riley _would_ get over it, just like Ed and Al knew it, but she just wondered.

Maria Ross sighed as she bent down to pick up papers. "So Ed," She started calmly, but shakily, "That's really the end of it?" Ed and Al both moved a bit, acknowledging her. "You won't regret it then? Giving up before you're finished? That's interesting. I didn't realize what you were searching for was so insignificant that you'd abandon it so easily."

They continued to throw words back at each other, not knowing or realizing, that Riley, a State Alchemist, was gone from the library. _Without protection_. Woo.

**With Riley**  
(Because didn't the Woo tip you off?)

I sighed as I walked down the sidewalk, my hands in the pockets of capris I was beginning to wish I changed out of before I left in a rage. It was too cold for my poor legs right now. "What a Halloween present," I muttered under my breath bitterly.

Okay... Maybe I _shouldn't_ have gone off on Ed like that. But I couldn't help it! He was pissing me off more and more and quite frankly, he should've been happy that yelling was _all_ I did to him! Rough times or not, it doesn't give you the right to go off on someone you love. Especially when that someone is like Al.

I shook my head and let out a deep breath. Maybe I just missed the old Ed. Yeah! That's what it is. I miss the old, annoying Ed that can't do anything without either exploding it or having adult supervision. I almost laughed at the exploding part. If it weren't that pyro inside of him, I don't think we would've met.

I let out another sigh. It was official. That dumbass is too sensitive, and I shouldn't gripe at him about it.

I turned around to head back when I heard quick movement behind me, and my eyes widened when I saw a familiar black shape dart to me. His.. Her.. _Its_ nails extended out and so I dodged, only getting a cut on the cheek. It continued running, and past me, before it was gone. Who the hell was that?! I'm getting sick of her!.. Him!.. It!

With that in mind, I then headed back.

. . .

I got back to the room, and walked inside. No one was there. Blinking in confusion, I walked to the table where a map and a note was laid down. I guessed something snapped in Ed. I looked at the note first, and saw that it was from Hannah. She had left to go Trick-Or-Treating. I placed the note back down, and looked to the map. Laboratory Five was circled. "What the...?" I muttered. Why were they going there when it was shu- I stopped this trail when it came to me why they were going.

Before I could turn to leave, I heard the alarm going off. My eyes widened and I ran to leave, but stopped when I heard an explosion. The only other one that can do that from me right now is Scar. "Dammit," I muttered, before I heard the door opening. Freaking out, because I _knew_ it wasn't the pizza guy, I quickly ran to the couch and laid down, grabbed the covers from the bed to hide the jacket and shoes I had on. I covered up after messing up my hair a bit, and closed my eyes, breathing in and out slowly.

Mere seconds after this, I heard the door bust open, and footsteps head my way, along with panting. Wanting to know who it was, I groaned and began to open my eyes, as if the noise had startled me. And just as I had thought, it was Scar. He looked up at me, and so I quickly mumbled, "Wha go-ee ah?"

Panting as he held his side, he said, "Go back to sleep, it's nothing..." Nodding, I rolled over sluggishly and spread out my breathing some more. I heard him pick up Hannah's note, and after a second, he muttered, "Good.. She shouldn't be harmed in this."

More shuffling with papers was heard, and then I heard this odd noise. I opened my eyes and saw a red light coming from behind me. "So FullMetal, now you understand the truth as well..," I heard him say. Footsteps came toward the room, and Scar gasped a bit.

"Scar, freeze!" Maria Ross shouted, when suddenly guns started firing. I almost yelped and jumped in shock. They were shooting with me _right there_?!

A window broke, and the guns stopped, so I jumped up quickly. "Riley!" Brosh and Maria Ross shouted at me as I ran toward the widow. "Wait!" They exclaimed as I jumped out after Scar.

He had ran off down the road, and I quickly followed. "Get back here!" I shouted. He stopped immediately and spun around.

He seemed surprised that I was up, but glared nonetheless. "Leave, or I will have to kill you!" He shouted at me.

I glared back as I continued running toward him. "I'm not going anywhere! I know you want Ed, and I'm not letting you hurt him!" I shouted, throwing a punch at him. He quickly reacted, dodging, before running off.

Growling, I reached forward and grabbed his tattooed arm. Both, his arm and my hand, glowed a light color, as we both began to remember or see things. I knew from his experience back in the room, that the memories was his doing. You can't do that with just alchemy, I didn't think.

The memories vanished almost immediately, and I looked up at Scar. I almost felt connected to him in a way. He glared down at me, "So you're a State. Riley Mauler, the Sulfur Alchemist. How ironic."

I glared back and said, "My parents saved you!" His eyes widened, taken aback by either my outburst or the fact that I saw information from him like he did with me. "If you want to honor families, then you owe me!" I exclaimed stubbornly.

He sighed and turned around. I let go and watched as he walked off. "Then let's go, girl," He said blankly.

While I smiled at my victory, I said, "My name is Riley!"

"I don't care," He replied simply.

"Well I do!"

"Too bad you aren't the one that has to use it then." Damn. I knew someone would use that line one day, but I _didn't _know it would be Scar, of all people. I twitched. This would be one long walk.

. . .

Scar growled under his breath, but I smirked, clearly amused. "Well sorry I don't have special inhuman boots like you do! Freak..," I said as I sat on his back, arms around his neck.

"There's no such thing as human boots," He replied dully, to which my brow twitched.

"Just shut up and gallop," I remarked sarcastically, to which _he_ glared.

He jumped over the stone wall at the Fifth Laboratory and landed on the ground. I looked up from him to see Al and another suit of armor. The armor giggled(Which should never happen.) and said, "How excellent! The fools keep coming one by one." He looked like he was talking still, that or he was signing, and then he shouted, "I KILL THEREFORE I AM!"

With that, he ran toward Scar and me as I jumped down from Scar's back. I glared at the armor as I readied myself to fight. I could hear echoes inside him, which led me to assume he was hollow. "Whether I'm real doesn't matter! I'm a killer and that's all I need to know!" He shouted as he brought the knife down toward us both. Scar stepped forward from my side and reached up, grabbing the armor's wrist.

"You're right," Scar said as the armor shook, "There is no need for you to prove you exist, because very soon you won't." I twitched at his witticism.

Smirking, I grabbed Scar's shoulder and pushed myself up so I could kick the armor's head off. And just as I had thought, he was empty. Al ran over and gasped. "You!" He exclaimed to Scar. He blinked, "R-Riley? What are you doing with him?!"

The armor began to throw a fit. "You know these two?!" He shouted at Al. "No fair! You didn't say anything about having any other allies around!"

"Allies?" Scar mumbled, surprised a bit.

"Gotcha!" The armor shouted, spinning back around.

I glared and shouted, "Watch it!" Scar quickly blew his arm up, causing him to fall back, so I sighed.

"What the?!" The armor shouted, grabbing at his arm.

But I ignored this as I noticed something missing. "Al!" I shouted, causing him to look at me, "Where's Ed?!"

Al gasped a bit and said, "He went inside..."

My eyes widened and I growled, before running toward the building. Before I could get there, Scar stepped in front of me, shouting, "Tell me!"

The armor, who stood in front of us, 'hm'ed and turned around before pressing a button, "I'm not going to tell you! Haha!"

The ground started to shake, and my eyes widened again. That was _never_ a good sign. Unless of course, I was behind it. Then it was funny. But this wasn't me. So it wasn't.. Funny.

An explosion occurred, and after dust began to die down, I noticed it was a bit hard for me to breath. Glancing back, I saw Scar on top of me, and Al on top of him. I felt dizzy, and heard the armor shouting, but was paying no attention whatsoever. "No, wait!" Scar shouted, and I jumped at the sudden noise.

"He got away," Al said, watching as the armor disappeared into the building.

"Get up," I heard Scar say dully.

As Al jumped off and apologized, I retorted with, "I was about to say the same thing.." He stood up and so I instantly took off into the building. At least I had a door now.

Soon after, I heard Scar and Al behind me. I could hear Al asking Scar many different questions, to which he replied with short and simple answers. I, on the other hand, was thinking back to that 'memory' or whatever that I had when I grabbed Scar's arm. I never knew until then..

_A man with long black waist length hair stood tall, glaring at the state alchemists that approached him. My father, and a State that I couldn't see very well yet. A younger Scar stood behind my father with tan skin, and red eyes. "Why do you insist on protecting these creatures?" The State asked, smirking. He had pale skin and black hair, much like my father, but he was shorter than my father. Kimblee._

"_Because the Military won't," My father replied coldly, causing Kimblee to chuckle._

_Soon after, a woman almost as tall as my father came to my father's side. She was my mother. "Go, boy," Father said bluntly. _

_Scar paused, shaking his head. Whether it was loyalty, or determination to fight, I don't know. "We must go!" An elder said to Scar, dragging him away quickly._

_Kimblee only chuckled again as he rose his palms.

* * *

_

And now.. Time for.. CHAPTER TRAAAAANSLATIOOOOOOOOOOONS! (Audience Applauds Here)  
"Tizenhat! That's 16!" Tizenhat is Hungarian.  
"Diecisiete! That's 17!" Diecisiete is Spanish.  
"Juuhachi! That's 18!" Juuhachi is Japanese.  
That's all folks! Translations are every three chapters!  
(Language Disclaimer: I do not know any numbers aside from English and Japanese numbers. If I spell one, or get one wrong, please tell me so!)

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	19. Devetnaiset! That's 19!

I am SO sorry.. I didn't realize it'd been a month since I updated... (Sweatdrop Here)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Mira Hinder**: Hehe, it's always funny when you're the one behind it. XD

**Lulukiryu:** Yepp, Scar's got himself a new owner, haha! Lawlz! That sounds exactly like Riley's relationship with Hannah! XD

**Emalee Roze**: Hehe... And yeah, he killed her parents... Funny thing is, I kinda like Kimblee for the most part. Well, not in _this_ story obviously. XD Hehe, thanks!

**Kaijukote: **Oh yeah, he'll be pissed alright. XD Yeah, he definitely has no favor for Ishbalins. Or the Rebellion Army, apparently. Thanks, I try! I think it's fun trying keep FMA characters in character(Probably because I've watched the series about four times. XD") And then Riley/Hannah thing will actually start in this chapter. Ah, thanks! XD

**hyourin-kusabana: **Thanks! X3

**5FIVES: **Heh, thanks! I quite like their little friendship they've got going on. XD

**Merenwen Melwasul:** I'm glad you like it! Sorry it was a bit hard to follow though. I was using a bit of a different technique for that chapter.

**White Wing Alchemist:** Hah XD I doubt Scar would back off of Ed, seeing as he'd keep it strictly between him and Riley(as an excuse to specifically keep going after Ed.)

A special shout-out to **KiaUruzuki** from Quizilla for giving me a list of Bulgarian numbers!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

Yay! I _finally_ got a USB Data Port.. XD I finally have backup for my stories. I'm so happy.

I do NOT own FullMetal Alchemist. You do NOT own Riley and Co. Hehe, I used "Co".

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen:**  
Ed's Ultimatum

"Trick or treat!" Hannah said, smiling as the door opened. She blinked in confusion at the man standing before her. "Hello Mr. Hughes!" She said, nodding at him.

Maes smiled as he put his jacket on, "Hey Hannah! Where's Riley?"

Hannah sighed, "Her and Ed got into a fight again."

He smiled and nodded. "I see," He said, "I think it'll work out. Ed's like that with people."

The girl smiled at him, "I hope you're right!" He patted her head casually as he left the house, giving her some candy before he did.

Hannah turned to walk off when she saw an officer saluting her. "Uh... Hello?" She mumbled, confused.

"Ma'am! I was sent to look after you by Major Mauler!"

. . .

"My my my..," We heard a woman say. I snapped out of thinking about that flashback, and looked up. A woman with black hair stood there, adorned in a black dress which showed too much skin(So I thought), and a short, fatter man stood there. The man had red lines going down his arms, and the woman had the Ouroboros on her chest. "This day is just filling up with all sorts of unpleasant interruptions."

"Who are they?" Al asked.

Scar glared at them, "You again." I blinked; He knew these two? "This time you're going to tell me why you have that face. My brother's work. Did he succeed in bringing you back?"

"What are you talking about?" The woman questioned, bored.

The man smiled, "Can I eat them now?"

The woman smirked, "I don't know.. The armored one might give you indigestion."

I growled, glaring at her. Who did she think she was?! "Who the hell are you two?!" I shouted.

"The homunculi," Scar said simply, and my eyes widened.

"Th-They couldn't be..," Al said, just as shocked.

Suddenly, the woman extended her nails, and I let out a gasp. "You..!" I murmured.

She smirked and ran forward. Before I could react, she had passed me and was aiming for Al, which sent him through the wall. The fat man had went for Scar.

I covered my head to avoid the dust and when I looked back up, I ran through the hole in the wall. Al would need my help before Scar. By the time I had gotten in there, I saw the woman extend her nails at Al, who was shoved against a wall because of it. I looked to Al to see if he was okay, when the short man grabbed a hold of Al from behind.

"Can I eat him now?" He asked, smiling wide, which creeped me out just a bit. He then _took a bite_ of Al. Took.. A.. Bite...?! My eyes widened as my brow twitched. That was abnormal.

"Hey!" I shouted angrily, running to Al's aid. Halfway there though, something long, narrow, and sharp shoved itself into my shoulder. Letting out a yell of pain, I turned my glare onto the woman. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" I shouted, holding my shoulder.

She smirked and replied with, "A bit repetitive, are we? If you must know, call me Lust."

I rolled my eyes despite the pain. "That's no surprise considering that get-up," I replied through gritted teeth.

Lust's nail extended more, and I gritted my teeth in pain. "Is there something wrong with my outfit?" She asked calmly.

"Not at all, for a prostitute," I replied. Okay, yes, maybe I shouldn't have kept provoking her, but I couldn't help it. I was pissed at her and if this was what it took to let some anger out, then so be it.

I let out a yelp as the nail broke through my shoulder, wedging itself into the wall behind me. "You of all people giving fashion advice. How ironic," She muttered.

. . .

"And where's the scarred man?" Lust asked the man, who I learned to be Gluttony. She was currently sitting on Al, which in turn fueled my anger, but I could do nothing as she had a nail in my shoulder, keeping me against the wall. I was going to get an infection and have to have my arm cut off after this, I just knew it.

Gluttony stepped toward her with a reply, "He fell into the bad place."

Bad place? What the hell is the Bad Place? And Scar fell into it? So it was underground..? Ugh, too many questions to be asked in my head at the moment.

"Really?" Lust started, "That's no big loss. Greed may show up to put a wrench in things at any moment. We've gotta get FullMetal boy to hurry up while we can."

Greed? What's with these names? By the name though, I could tell it was most likely another homunculus. I began to think over it. Was Greed a bad guy or a good guy? If he was bad, wouldn't he want to help them? Then again, he _was_ Greed, so he may have wanted to stop them just to do it himself. I didn't really know.

"He has a name, you know," I spoke up, glaring at Lust. She only sighed and twisted her wrist, causing her nail to make an even bigger injury to my shoulder. "S-Stop it!" I whined, wincing.

"Then stop talking," She replied calmly.

Che. She didn't know who she was telling to stop talking.

. . .

Lust and Gluttony dragged Al and me down the hall for several minutes, till we got to another set of doors. Lust went in as Gluttony watched us. He was mainly holding onto Al. I was planning my next move. I refused to give up just yet. Finally, I made a run for the doors. The closer I got, I heard Lust call someone Envy. "Hey!" Gluttony shouted, rushing after me. He grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me back. When all I did was stumble and continue to run, he used my hair to pull _him_ forward. Landing behind me, he sunk his teeth into my injured shoulder.

I yelled as I found myself falling to my knees on the ground after he let go. "Yum!" He said, smiling as he grabbed my arm and pulled me up, creating another yell from me. He then dragged both Al and me through the doors as I heard Lust say, "I think you have no choice in the matter, Edward." I looked ahead of me and saw several convicts. They looked nothing short of scared.

Gluttony dropped Al to the ground as he held onto my arm. I looked around till my eyes landed on Ed. His eyes widened at the sight of Al as he shouted, "Al!"

"These people.. They're.. Homunculi!" Al said.

Ed's eyes shook as he repeated Al, surprised, under his breath. A half-man, half-..Creature.. Walked up toward us as he and Ed talked. It was mainly over memory implants. I wasn't really listening. I was looking around, trying to piece everything together. "It still won't be the real Nina!" Ed shouted.

A dude.. Er.. I guess, spun his leg around, kicking Ed in the face. I had just noticed him there. He had long black hair, and wore a black skirt and tube top which would no doubt give me nightmares later. That must've been the Envy that Lust was talking about. I growled, and twisted my arm out of Gluttony's grasp as Ed was thrusted backwards. "Don't touch him!" I shouted, rushing forward.

Envy looked over at me and stepped backward as I threw my fist at him. With one hand, he grabbed my wrist, and the other, he grabbed the back of my neck. He spun around, tossing me toward the ground as he did. I stumbled forward but caught myself and turned back to him, throwing my foot at his face. He ran around my leg, and toward me. He reached forward, grabbing my knee and in some complicated move, he had me facing the ground, going down.

Before I could catch myself, he grabbed hold of my injured shoulder, and shoved downward. I yelled as I landed, but he didn't stop. He shoved down further, and I yelled once again. "Leave her alone!" I heard Ed shout, before feeling the weight let up. Looking up quickly, I saw Envy fall onto the ground a few feet away.

Ed bent down beside me, helping me sit up. "Worry less about your girlfriend, and more about you," Envy retorted with a lazy smirk as he began to make his way over. Ed grabbed my good shoulder and stood up, pulling me along.

"Go," He muttered, glaring at Envy as he pushed me back. I would've protested but for once, logic was dictating over instinct, so I headed to Al and them. Reluctantly.

Within seconds, Envy had Ed on the ground again. It pissed me off, because I wasn't sure why Envy had such a hold over Ed. Was it that Ed was just angry? Or did Envy truly have that much more strength over him? Over all of us fighting?

"This pointless fighting stops here," Envy said, "So, pipsqueak. Why don't you shut up and get to work on the transmutations now? You can start by fixing the ceiling."

"I'm embarrassed to admit it, but our group is incapable of using alchemy. We have to rely on others to do it for us," Lust said, sighing.

I blinked in confusion as Ed replied with, "Then what's the point? What could you possibly do with a Philosopher's Stone?" When Lust didn't reply, Ed's eyes narrowed, "The same as Cornello, huh? Let me guess. You've got a God complex and a desperate need for world domination."

Lust smiled a bit and replied calmly, "I want to become a human. Nothing more."

I was having no problem keeping up with the conversation until then. Where was Scar, was he okay? Who was Cornello? If that's all these homunculi want, to be human, why didn't they just propose an offer with an alchemist instead of killing people? There were several questions going through my head. Too many questions. I was on the verge of severe blood loss, I was sure, and at the same time, trying to figure out a puzzle that was giving more pieces, and less places to put them.

"Stop it, you can't do that, he's still a human being!" Ed shouted, roughly bringing me back in on the conversation. I looked around, and saw Lust holding up the armor who I didn't know. She began to scratch at his seal.

"No..," I muttered before running over. Gluttony, spotting me on the move, spun around and grabbed a hold of my arm. He easily tossed me into the wall, where I fell to the ground and used my still intact arm to keep me sitting up.

"Edward Elric, I want you to-" The armor was interrupted as Lust cut through the metal. He was dead, and gone now. There was no doubt about it.

Lust leaned down, and knocked Al's head off. She placed her finger at his seal. "This won't take long," Lust said with a smirk.

I glared. She was messing with the wrong people. It was then I had mindset on killing these homunculi, no matter what. "No!" Ed shouted at her instantly. "Please don't hurt him! He's my little brother! Please don't take him away, I'm begging you!" I wanted to do something so badly, but I knew if Lust spotted me moving, it'd be just as bad for Al. Not to mention the fact I kept fighting to stay up, let alone stay awake.

"Brother, it's okay! What am I, after all...?" Al exclaimed. This confused me, to say the least. What made him wonder that?

"Don't give up on me now, Al, okay?!" Ed shouted back. He then clapped, and placed his hands on the ground. The rocks glowed a blue color and began to lift, placing themselves back into the ceiling. I hoped that his plan was fix the ceiling, kick their asses, and then run for it; But I knew I was most likely wrong. Al and I were silent as Envy whistled at Ed's job. I'm positive he did it sarcastically, but I wasn't really noticing. Gluttony acted like a sheep dog and scared the prisoners into the circle as Ed began to move the pillars of red water.

Which kinda ruined my theory of Ed's plan, really. Unless he was feeling extra nice and was going to fix the pillars too... Right.

"Brother, no, you can't do this! It's not worth it!" Al shouted at Ed, but it was pointless as Ed ignored him.

Ed continued as Lust said, "That's it, you can do it, Kid. I have faith." What the hell was she, a cheerleader?

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Al shouted loudly.

Ed stood and looked to the prisoners, who cowered a bit when they saw this. I sighed, holding my shoulder, "Ed, you can't do this, you know you can't! You don't have the immorality to kill a dozen men just to get flesh in return!" He stopped, and I blinked. Did that _really_ work? Shrugging, I continued, "You rather miss an arm and leg then have them both while knowing you killed people for it! _Al_ would rather miss a body than know his brother's a murderer! That isn't equivalent exchange!"

Envy had ran toward me, and shoved his knee into my stomach. I let out a yell as he glared at me, "Shut up girl!"

"Riley..!" Ed started, turning to come help, but Lust had moved faster. With a nail at Al's transmutation circle, Ed had no choice to be stop.

"Get back to work, or your precious brother dies," Lust said, agitated.

I tried to punch myself away from Envy, but due to my currently slow speed, he easily kicked me in the face. I yelped as I fell to the ground, now closer on the verge of nothingness. "Brat should keep her mouth shut..," I heard Envy mutter under his breath as he turned back to face Ed.

I began to finally pass out, and just as sound, smell, and sight went blank, I was jerked to awareness by shaking. Slowly forcing myself to sit up, I saw the room shaking, pieces of ceiling crumbling. What happened? Had Ed actually made the stone? Suddenly a huge portion of the ceiling and wall crumbled, and red water came flowing out. I was forcefully moved by the rushing of the red water as it smacked against my back, and my hands began to sting. Really _really_ badly.

Trying as quickly as possible for my state, I stood and looked at my hands to see burns on them. Looking up around me, I saw Scar standing on the roof. Or, well, above us.. Which is technically the roof, but not real-

"FullMetal Alchemist! Take your brother and the girl and get out of here!" Scar exclaimed.

Ed growled before shouting, "I don't need your help!" I almost cried in joy; Ed sounded normal. Stubborn, annoying, and Ed.

"Maybe not but those two need you," Scar replied.

I saw Ed pause, before turning to us. "Alright, let's go!" He said, running toward us.

It was all happy and everything, until Lust butted in. Of course. "Oh no! You aren't leaving until you've finished what you started!"

Ed took one step toward us, and every thought of leaving left me, and Al too I'm sure. The instant Ed's foot hit the ground, the red water glowed as blue light shot up and outward. Ed was frozen, his hair and clothing flying around as he screamed. Through all the noise, I could hear Lust talking. All I heard was, "With all this exposure, he could become a God."

I looked over at her, wide-eyed. "What?!" I shouted in shock. When Lust had to dodge a metal arrow that shot at her, I turned my attention back to Ed. Spikes began to shoot up from the ground and walls randomly, so I ran toward Ed. I had to stop him. Somehow.

Wait.. If my hands had a reaction to the red water, wouldn't they have a reaction to Ed?

Just as I decided to stop running, a spike shot toward me from the ground. I yelped in surprise as I pushed myself backwards, and caused myself to fall back. I slowly sat up, watching Ed. I felt hopeless. I couldn't do anything to help Ed. If I touched him, who knows what would've happened. I couldn't do anything but.. But watch. I hated it. If I even tried to help, I could... Kill him.

"Lieutenant! Wait!" I heard Block's voice shout. I looked over in confusion, and saw Block, Maria Ross, and Armstrong standing there. I never thought I'd be so happy to see Block in my entire life, but there it was. It was then that I saw Maria Ross heading to Ed. I normally would've yelled at her for being an idiot, but as I was about to do the same thing, I stayed quiet. Maria Ross reached Ed, and hugged him. Ed slowly began to come back to normal, and fell limp.

A part of me felt bitter. Jealous, almost. I couldn't do anything to help. Maria Ross had to. No, Maria Ross was _able_ to. I was happy he was safe, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was because of my hands that it didn't stop sooner. It was the first time I've ever felt as though my hands were a disability.

_I hated it_...

* * *

OOOOh. I finally have another rant down here! Hehe.  
This is going to make me sound like a hermit that finds things out WAY late, I'm sure. Buuuut...

I love the dark mode for stories!

Hahaha! It is totally gnarly. Being someone who's _supposed_ to be wearing glasses(Insert Shifty Eyes Here), it's very useful when I start getting headaches from reading too much. Which happens on a daily basis. I can now read comfortably. X3 Dark Mode turns the background of stories grey-black, and the letters white. It's actually a fact that reading with a dark background instead of a light one decreases headaches and eye-strain.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	20. Yirmi! That's 20!

The big TWO-OH! XD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Tailendwriter**: Thanks! XD

**AnonymousGirl18**: Thanks, I'm glad you like it! And I used to know a few words my mom's cousin-in-law taught me, but I've forgotten them by now. I only actually know English, Spanish, and Japanese numbers. The rest I either get from people nice enough to give me a list, or from online translators.

**Kaijukote**: Sigh, some military officers are just morons. Haha, totally. FMA has to have angst. It's the FMA World Rule.  
I'd either die of blood loss or laughing if Ed became a God. Scary... o.o"  
Yes, we should burn her at the stake!.. Or maybe something a bit more humane. Riley's in store for a lot of angst, ne?  
Thanks! And I'm definitely going to be putting more Scar into this.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

There is no ownage relationship between FMA and I.  
There is no ownage relationship between Riley(and Co.. Hehe) and you.  
There is no ownage relationship between Nicole and I. She belongs to **AnimeFanGirl167**. X3

* * *

**Chapter Twenty:  
**It's Just Not Her Week.

I groaned as I began to wake, feeling nothing short of horrible. In more ways than one. Armstrong had carried us, all passed out at this point, to the hospital last night. I had a blood transfusion along with who knows how many tests. I didn't know about Ed or Al yet. They didn't tell me anything when I asked. _Then again, they probably didn't understand my half-asleep, half-passed out garbled nonsense_.

Opening my eyes, I began to look around my room. It was empty, of course. I guess Fate was giving me time to brood in peace.

I didn't know why I cared so much about it, but I did. Up till last night, I had been able to help Ed and Al when they needed it. And last night, they needed it more than ever. But I couldn't do anything. "Aren't I useless..?" I muttered under my breath. I felt unneeded.. Unnecessary. In the way.

Oh well. I can't cry over it, now at least. Maybe I could just go back to HQ and get another job from Mustang, continue my post-Elric schedule. After all, I'm kind of just sticking around them.

I sighed as I stood from my bed slowly, and made my way into the hall. I looked around and saw a few patients here and there walking around. I made my way to the desk, where a woman sat. "Ma'am.. Which room is Edward Elric in?" I asked.

She looked up at me and pointed at the room next to mine. "Ma- Lieutenant Colonel.. Maes Hughes ordered it," She said, almost irritated at the mention of Maes.

Smirking, I nodded in thanks and turned to head to Ed's room, when I saw Hannah standing there. "Hey! How did trick-or-treating go?" I asked. Hannah didn't reply. She just glared at me. "..What's wrong?" I asked.

"An officer came to watch over me," She said. I froze. I had sent an officer to watch her, but I specifically picked an officer that knew I was hiding it from Hannah. Didn't I?

"Ed sent someone to watch you? That's grea-" I was interrupted.

Hannah glared at me and shouted, "I know you're in the military!" I sighed, looking downward. "Why didn't you tell me? I actually believed you were a Militia Journalist! You made me look like a fool, Riley! Am I supposed to be some kind of sick puppet for your own amusement or something?"

"Hannah, it isn't like that, I just didn't want you to-"

"To what? Kill you for joining the military after what your parents fought for?" Hannah hissed at me.

I flinched a bit at the mention of my parents. "You would've worried if you knew."

She glared, "Riley, I worry about you already! You're reckless, don't you comprehend that?! What made you think lying to your best friend about it is such a better idea?! How many other people know?" At my pause, she looked angrier. "..Ed knows, doesn't he?"

"...He found out," I replied.

"Of course. And you decided to keep lying to me? Great. Ed knows more about you than I do! Maybe he'll enjoy dealing with you more than I did," She growled as she threw her bag of candy down. "I'm going back home where I can actually be with honest people for Christmas," She said before turning to walk off.

This isn't my week.

I headed back to my room, not in the mood to deal with Ed, Block, and especially Maria Ross. Walking into the room, I saw a familiar brunette sitting in a chair next to my empty bed. I blinked in surprise, "..Nicole?"

Said girl looked up and smiled as she stood, "Hey, you're alive!"

Grinning, I nodded. "Last I checked."

As I sat down on my bed, she sat across from me, "Are you okay? Hughes told me you were stabbed."

I nodded in reply, "I'm fine, it's just a... Scratch." Which was technically the truth. I mean, she _did_ use her nail. So, it classifies as a scratch. A.. Really.. Deep scratch.

She shook her head in confusion and looked around, "So where's Hannah? She used to be glued to your side whenever she wasn't in Dublin."

Pausing, I sighed. Nicole was my cousin. I could trust her with almost anything. So, I told her everything. From when I met Winry; to when I walked into my room to see Nicole sitting there. It was a long story, and an emotional one, but I needed to get it all off my chest. And Nicole was the best person to help.

Once I was done, Nicole was quiet a moment to think over her response. "Well, it's your own fault you're in this mess with Hannah. If you hadn't of lied to her, you wouldn't have screwed up now," She explained.

I sighed and nodded, "This much I knew... I just.. I figured she'd react bad if I told her."

"That's your problem, you know," Nicole started, "You always assume people will do things you don't like, so you take drastic measures to prevent it, only causing more chaos down the road. That's unhealthy."

"Okay, Ms. Therapist, and what about Ed and Maria Ross?" I asked dully.

She rolled her eyes, and smirked slyly at me. It scared me a bit. I ignored it though as I grabbed my water and sipped. "You're just jealous a homewrecker hugged your man," She said.

My sudden reaction was one I _assume_ she didn't like. It all happened within seconds of each other too.

Just as Maes walked in, my eyes widened as I spit my water out. Nicole's brow twitched as she, now wet, glared at me. "_That_ was disgusting," She growled at me.

I blinked, still in shock. How the _hell_ did she come up with that? I wasn't sure if it was the "homewrecker" bit, or the "your man" bit, but both were a surprise from her mouth. I coughed as I sat the cup down. "Are you kidding me?" I asked her.

She sighed as she wiped her face with a towel next to my bed. "No. You're jealous, not self-conscious. You didn't get along with that Winry girl either. You don't like any woman in his life."

"That's not true! Winry doesn't like me. I liked her," I pointed out.

"Because you're a threat to hers and Ed's relationship. Just like you're feeling that Maria is a threat to yours," Nicole explained. I twitched, and she continued, "You don't feel like Ed needs help, you feel like Ed needs you. Your help, your support. And when Maria shows support, it shows you that he just needs help and support, not yours specifically."

I stared dully. "So I have a mother complex?" Maes burst out laughing while Nicole glared at me. Looking over at Maes, I smiled, "Hey! How's it going?"

Maes relaxed and said, "Ed woke up a while ago."

Turning serious, I asked, "Is he okay? How's he doing?"

"The doctor says he's fine," Maes said, "Come with me to see him?"

I nodded and stood from the bed, walking to him. He shut the door behind me and smirked, "Nicole is right, you know."

"Eh?" I mumbled, looking up at him.

He nodded, "You care about Ed. It's not surprising, after all you've been through with them. You're the kind of girl that hates getting shown up, and you feel like you have been."

My brow twitched, "Great, getting told how I feel by an overly-obsessed father."

He shook his head at me as we both went into Ed's room. "Hey Ed!" Maes shouted in his usual cheery voice as he waved.

Ed looked over at us and said, "Hey Hughes.." Upon seeing me, he blinked in a bit of surprise. "Riley. How are you holding up?"

Shrugging, I grinned. "Been better, besides," I paused to rub my bandaged shoulder, "It's technically just a scratch, right?"

He had a faint smirk as he nodded, "Yeah."

Maria Ross stared at me a bit. Almost as if she knew what I had been mulling over. I blinked, looking at her as well. Finally, she smiled, "I'm glad you're okay after that little chase you pulled off with Scar. Yo-"

The air suddenly changed as Ed glared at me, shouting, "Wait a minute! You chased after Scar without me or Al?!"

Maria Ross gained a huge bead of sweat as I blinked, nodding. "Er.. Yes... But don't worry, he didn't hurt me, he just took me to Lab Five with him!" I said, grinning.

"WHAT?!" Heh, he sounded angrier... Thinking of what to say, I looked around the room in a silent panic. Finally, I thought of the perfect diversion.

"Have some milk!" I said as he held up a glass of milk for him.

He slapped it out of my hands, still glaring at me. I paled as he continued, "You were with Scar?! You _idiot_! He could've killed you!"

"But he didn't," I pointed out matter-of-factly.

"So?! What if he did? We'd have no way of knowing about it..! You shouldn't be around him alone!" Ed yelled firmly.

I glared now, "You controlling jackass! I can be around whoever I want to be around!"

Ed shook his head and shouted, "Not with Scar, Riley! If you hadn't decided to be a baby and leave, we wouldn't have this problem!"

"_Me_?!" I shouted angrily, pointing at myself. He had crossed the line. I was the baby?! "_I'm_ the one that was being a baby?! I'm so sorry Mr. I've-Had-Enough, for being a _baby_!" I shouted as I placed my hands on my hips, glaring at Ed.

"You know what I mean! Dammit Riley, you're too reckless!" He shouted at me. I was just about to snap back with something witty, when I remembered what Hannah had said.

"_You're reckless, don't you comprehend that?!" _

Pausing, I tried to think of something to say, but someone beat me to it. "He isn't that bad, brother. He helped me find you, after all," Al said quietly. I blinked, looking over at him in surprise and concern. What was wrong with Al?

"_Brother, it's okay! What am I, after all...?"_

Now that I thought about it, Al seemed.. Unsure, of himself. Dammit, if only I knew who said what to him to make him wonder. Was that even the problem? Or was he angry that Ed would actually murder for him? When that thought crossed my mind, I myself became angry with Ed. He was actually going to murder. We could've found a way to save Al(and me). But no. He decided he'd rather kill.

Then I glared at Ed, and reached forward, smacking him. Ed's eyes widened as he was jerked forward. Maes' eyes widened a bit, and I heard Maria Ross gasp as Block muttered, "Again?!"

It was silent a moment. Everyone was trying to process it. Maes cleared his throat and said, "You know what I just realized? I haven't eaten today..."

Block blinked and Maria Ross nodded. "We understand, sir..," She said before dragging Block out of the room.

"What was that for...?!" Ed asked me.

I glared, "How _dare_ you! How dare you think it'd be okay to use those people! Did you really think we'd be okay with you being a murderer? You aren't that kind of person!"

Ed sighed. "... They would've killed Al-"

"We would've found a way!" I shouted angrily, "Just like always! There's always more than one way to do things, Ed, I thought you knew that!"

He glanced up at me and nodded, "..You're right."

"Damn right I am!" I shouted angrily as I choked up. "And, you yelled at me for being with Scar and I yelled at you for being a dumbass, so we're even!" I said, choking up.

His brow twitched, and he nodded, "..Yeah. We're even."

Maes was quiet, a bit confused, until he asked, "Mind telling me what happened?"

Ed and I sighed as I sat down, and Ed told him what happened. Once the story was over, Maes smirked a bit, "Thanks for the information, Ed. I'll take it from here. Now get some rest. Why don't you and your brother just worry about yourselves for a while?" Ed nodded a bit as Maes headed out of the room.

. . .

"Edward! You didn't tell me you were in the hospital for this!" Winry exclaimed as she dropped her toolbox. Her and Armstrong stood there, by Ed's bed.

I blinked, looking to Ed, "You didn't?" I snorted a bit, "What, did you forget or something?"

He glared a bit at me as Winry said, "Seriously Ed, why didn't you tell me?"

Laughing nervously, he said, "Well one thing led to another..."

"It's nothing to laugh about..," Winry said as her voice stumbled a bit.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked, concerned.

I shook my head as I muttered to Armstrong, "Ed's an idiot about women."

"I didn't do the maintenance on your auto-mail the way I should've, and now.. This is my fault," Winry said sadly.

Ed freaked. "No! Don't say that! There's a lot of other things to blame, right Al?"

Al moved a bit and I looked over at him, concerned. "..Right," He said.

"See there? And Al doesn't lie!" Ed said, smiling.

"...," I looked back at Armstrong. "Ed's an idiot about Al too."

"Yeah, but-"

Winry was interrupted when Ed said, "Your maintenance was perfect. It always has been. It's complicated machinery and I'm swinging it all around. It was bound to jam up sometime. I mean honestly, the timing was pretty good. If it had stopped earlier, I'd be a lot worse off. It broke because I was rough with it."

Winry paused and smiled, "You're right! You're reckless is all, clumsy!" She then laughed loudly as Ed twitched. I smirked in amusement.

. . .

I was walking around town, looking for something to get Ed for his birthday. I hated looking for birthday presents. How was I supposed to know what to get him? He wants Al's body back, and I can't get that. And how would I even wrap that if I could get it? Imagine _that_ surprise...

"_Happy birthday Ed!" I said I held my arms open to motion to the huge life-sized box in front of him, wrapped in yellow and blue._

"_Awesome! Thanks, Riley!" Ed shouted as he pulled on the blue ribbon. It fell off, along with the yellow paper, and the box came tumbling down to show Al, in flesh and all. "Al?!" Ed shouted as I laughed, watching them embrace each other in brotherly care._

I had stopped walking, deadpan. I was unsure of whether I should've laughed at the thought of Ed going "Awesome!", or mourned the loss of my sanity. Shaking my head, I continued to walk, looking for something to get him.

"Riley..?"

Blinking, I stopped once more and turned around to see Winry. Great. My best friend declared her hatred of me, my cousin claimed I'm jealous of a thirty-year old woman who's a lower rank than I, and now I have to be alone with Winry. The "other girl" as Nicole would call her.

"Hey..," I said simply as I stood there.

She sighed and glared at the ground, "Listen... I don't like you, and I still don't trust you, but right now you're the only person I can go to. You know more about what's going on than I do.. I want to know."

I blinked in surprise. Was she seriously asking me to tell her what Ed doesn't want her to know after she decided to keep from me what was in Ed's pocket watch? "..No," I replied calmly as I turned back to keep shopping.

"What? W-Why not?" She asked, running up toward me.

I sighed and looked at her, "If Ed didn't want you to know, I'm not going to let you know."

"That's not fair. They're my family, I should know," Winry said, glaring at me.

I stopped and glared at her as I replied with, "Like I should've known what was in his pocket watch?" Her eyes widened a bit, so I continued, "I honestly don't care about knowing what was in his pocket watch, because he hasn't told me himself. You should have the same attitude. Ed is not the kind of person that likes everyone knowing his business. If I tell you what happened, it'd be the same as if you had told me what was in the pocket watch. An invasion of privacy and trust. I'm trying to be nice about it Winry, so back off. Let him tell you when the time is right. What you know about him is between you and him. No one else."

We stood there, staring at one another. A stare down of sorts. She was examining me, surprised, seeing if I would break; While I was watching her break. I wasn't backing down, and she had to see that. Winry nodded, "...I understand."

I win.

. . .

I was walking down the halls to Ed's room to give him his gift, when I saw through the window of the room Winry was fixing his auto-mail. Al was gone. I stepped back and looked around to see Block. "Hey, where's Al?" I asked curiously.

Block looked over at me and motioned to the roof, "He asked me to wheel him up to the roof. He seemed to want to be alone though."

"Hm," I replied as I walked to the stairs.

"H-Hey! Didn't you hear me? He wanted to be al-"

"I heard!" I said as I went upstairs.

Reaching the roof, I walked out and saw Al sitting against the wall. "..Hey," I said, smiling at him.

I got silence in return.

I sat down beside him as I looked around. "It's really nice up here, isn't it?" When he didn't reply, I sighed a bit and looked over at him, "Al.. Are you okay? I'm really worried about you. What did you mean by 'What am I, after all'? What did that armor you were fighting say to you?"

Al shifted a bit, almost as if he was taken by surprise I realized it was something the armor had said. But still, no reply.

I glared at the ground, racking my brain as I tried to remember what had been said the day before. It pissed me off! I was so much in a daze then, I couldn't remember. I thought back through everything, and then it struck me. _Memory implants_!

It suddenly all came together. Al's suddenly silence, demeanor, him feeling unsure.. It was clear now. I looked up at Al shocked as I asked in a whisper, "You think... Ed made you?"

His eyes widened as he looked down at me, shocked. I was right.

Before he could say anything, the door opened and Winry and Ed walked in. Or, out. I continued to look at Al with shock as he turned to look at them. "Listen. I'm sorry.. And I'm gonna fix you right now," Ed said.

As Winry dropped a bag of metal parts on the ground in front of us, I slowly stood and backed away. Al thought he wasn't real? That.. He was just a doll with memories? Hearing a clap, I tuned back in to see a blue light. As expected, once it was over, Al was tall and all in one piece again.

"How's that?" Ed asked.

Al raised his hand up a bit and balled it into a fist. "That's how you made me this way when you attached my soul to this armor in the first place, isn't it?" He asked.

Ed smiled, "That's right."

"Along with my memories," Al stated. Ed gasped a bit, wide-eyed, but Al continued, "After all, memories are just information you can reference, like a cabinet of files. As skilled an alchemist as you are, you could've created any memories you wanted me to have."

"Fake memories..?" Ed mumbled out before relaxing, "Don't tell me that's what you're upset about."

"Why shouldn't it be?" Al retorted. "A while back in Resembool, there's something you wanted to tell me, but you couldn't. You said you were afraid of how I'd react. You remember that, don't you?!"

I paused, thinking back to that. I remembered that.. Armstrong heard it too. So... Did that mean Al was right? Did Ed really put memories in an armor?

No. Ed wasn't like that. Was he?

"I can't remember parts of my past because they never happened! My memories and soul are fake! Something you created! Isn't _that_ what you wanted to say?!" Al shouted angrily.

Ed's eyes widened as his pupils got smaller. "No!" Winry shouted, stepping forward. "What Ed wanted to tell you was that-"

"Stop lying to me!" Al shouted as he threw his hand at Winry. She stumbled back in order to miss getting hit. I stood there, silent. I didn't know what to believe. "I know what the truth is. The person named Alphonse Elric never existed at all."

"That makes no sense!" Winry shouted, "You and Ed have always been together. I knew you when you were a boy! My grandma did too! We're you friends Al, you can trust me!"

"Can I? Really? How can I believe anyone when there's no way to prove it! When I'm just a hollow shell. All three of you could be in on it together!" Al growled out.

"So," Ed finally spoke up dully, "You've been sitting on these thoughts all this time. Is there anything else you're hiding, that you wanna say?"

"What about you, my so-called brother? Answer my question! Why won't you say anything? Unless it's true!" Al exclaimed before turning to leave.

Ed grabbed Al's arm, silent. "Let go of me," Al said. When Ed didn't budge, Al added, "What's the point of living this lie?!" He pushed Ed back and turned to leave again.

"You idiot!" Ed shouted as he ran forward and grabbed hold of Al's arm, with both of his.

The two struggled against each other, Al telling Ed to let go, Ed telling Al to stop. I wanted to break them apart, but I couldn't help but feel for Al. Finally, Al pushed Ed back, causing him to fall to the ground. Finally I moved as I ran over to Ed to help him sit up. "Alphonse..," Ed muttered, looking up at Al.

I sighed and looked to Al to see him step away, "Stay back.."

"Hold on," Ed said, but Al ignored it.

"Stay back! Keep away from me!"

"Please Al!" Ed shouted, sitting up more. Al jumped over the railing, and Ed shouted, "Al!"

He stood and ran to the railing to jump over, but Winry grabbed a hold of him. "No!" She shouted as she grabbed him, pulling him back. I growled, and grabbed the railing. "Riley!" Winry shouted as she tried to multi-task, holding both Ed and me.

As I placed my foot on the rail, I looked back and snapped, "You don't get it!" Winry blinked, taken aback as Ed ignored our existence. I glared at Winry a bit more before jumping over the railing. Seeing the ground near, I clapped and grabbed my backpack. It turned into a make-shift parachute as I landed on the ground. I let go of the straps, and the parachute fell to the ground. I took off after Al as my belongings laid behind me.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	21. Ekkkais! That's 21!

Hehe! It is _almost_ September! I had a relatively nice summer; As usual, my lack of a social life led it to mostly me watching TV with my dogs, but hey, I was in a good mood while I did it.

My birthday is coming up as well. I can't wait to be sixteen; Driving lessons, getting a job, taking the Three-Year Homeschool Test. Ahh.

Once again I'll be going to AWA(Anime Weekend Atlanta). If anyone else is going, tell me! I'd love to meet a Lovely Daaaarling! XD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings**

**Vampire Note**: Thanks!

**AnonymousGirl18**: That's great! Sorry about the English fading your memory though, I always felt there were too many words in the English language, hah. Mind telling me the word for 22 and/or 23?

**Kaijukote**: Definitely! Riley and Al need more awesome moments.  
Lawlz! Hannah shall return quite soon.  
Losery? Nice nickname! I think I'll use it from now on. Fufufufu...!  
Thanks! But, Nicole belongs to AnimeFanGirl167, so she gets credit for the character herself, and the inspiration.  
Haha! I have a very dirty mental image about Scar on a platter actually... (The naughty Fangirl, I am.)  
We shall celebrate with... THE NEXT CHAPTER!

**DarkAngelDreams13**: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for taking your time to read the story. X3

**Mira Hinder**: Yeah, that's not the greatest moment in FMA, but it just goes to show you how flexible FMA can be with the emotions in their scenes. Haha, I felt it a very proper response! (Shifty Eyes Here.)

**Red. Wolf. Of. Fire**: Thanks! Aww, I'm glad someone thinks so! XP

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

FMA Ownage = Hiromu Arakawa.  
Riley, Riley's Parents, Dude With Blade Ownage = Me.  
Math never sounded so simple.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One:**  
Being a Tag-Along Sucks Sometimes.

It rained as I ran down the street, looking for Al. People passed me by curiously, but never made an effort to see what was going on. My things were no doubt ruined by now, but I was more concerned with Al. I could replace those things. I didn't know about Winry or Ed either, but once again, I had something more important going on.

I finally spotted armor further down the road. "Al!" I shouted, running faster. I continued shouting out his name until he finally stopped and turned.

Once I reached him, he looked down at me. "You shouldn't be out here without a jacket. You could get sick."

I glared up at him, panting as I placed my hands on my knees. "Without a _jacket_? I think I've crossed that by now, Al."

He sighed and began walking again, so I walked beside him. He sat down in an alley, against a wall. I sat behind him, against his back. "...Do you honestly think Ed put... Would do that?"

"I don't know... But everything's adding up. I think he did..," Al replied.

I looked over my shoulder and glared at him. "But why? How does it all add up? I don't... I don't get it. Ed isn't that creative. You say there's no proof you did exist, well where's the proof that you didn't? Just because what you've been told sounds like Ed.. Did that, it doesn't mean it's true.."

"Stop those thieves!" A man shouted. Blinking in confusion, I peered over Al's shoulder to see two boys turn down the alley. They ran over and hid behind Al.

Without noticing me..?

Either they were blind, or just panicked. From still looking over Al's shoulder, I saw a bald man run by angrily. It was silent after that, save for their panting, and the rain.

The boy who seemed closer to my age, looked around Al. "We lost him," he said through his pants. He then turned to the other boy while taking an apple from the basket in his arms. "Here, eat up."

"I don't want any! What were you thinking? You just picked that up and stole it out of nowhere. If Mom knew we were..," He quieted down when his stomach growled.

"There, see?" The other started, "You can't be so hard on yourself."

"You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you," Al said. I almost burst out laughing at their faces, but decided that Al's voice had probably scared them enough.

"Did you hear that?" The older one asked, looking to Al, "This old pile of junk said something."

I glared at him and remarked, "Al isn't a pile of junk, you little Slick Hands."

He blinked, and looked over. Immediately, he let out a loud yelp as he jumped back, landing on his but as his basket fell over. Apples came tumbling out and rolled along the ground. His sunglasses fell off as well. My eyes widened in surprise, as he glared as he sat up, "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?!"

"Brother! Your sunglasses!" The younger one exclaimed. The older boy's eyes widened as he quickly grabbed his glassed, and Al turned around.

"Hey.. Are you two from Ishbal?" Al asked curiously.

I nodded in agreement, "Sure looks like it, doesn't it Al?"

. . .

"It must be bizarre to find so many people living in a place like this," The Elder said, chuckling.

We were underground now, and Al was sitting on a mat. I sat beside him on my knees, looking around at the people, barely paying attention. It made me wonder how many knew about my parents. How many of these people had they saved? How many had spoken to them?

"Oh, no, no!" Al said, waving his hands, "It's just not what I was expecting when I followed them."

"Don't worry about it. I guess these two were causing some trouble on the surface. By the way, where did you get that strange armor you're wearing?" I looked over at them as the man continued, "Is it some kind of uniform?"

"Relax," I heard a familiar voice say. Al seemed to have recognized it too. My eyes widened as I turned around to see Scar standing there. "He's not part of the military. The girl can be considered an ally.."

"Scar!" Al and I both exclaimed in surprise.

Scar looked over at us, "Our paths entwine, don't they Alphonse Elric?"

"I didn't know you would be here, too," Al snapped.

A short, yet tense moment passed where the two glared at one another. The younger boy ran forward, and in front of Scar. Scar and Al seemed a bit confused by this. I sighed at their obliviousness and heard the Elder ask, "So, you three know each other?"

"We do," Scar said, "In a since."

I snorted, "Tell me about it.."

"Perfect, that makes this easier," The Elder started, "Strangers.. I ask that you do not tell anyone about us or this camp of ours."

Al looked back at him, "Oh, I won't. I promise!"

I quickly nodded in agreement as I placed a finger over my lips, "My lips are sealed!"

"I heard about what happened in Ishbal..," Al said slowly, before asking, "But why did you end up here?"

"Because the military came and attacked us!" The older boy exclaimed angrily.

My eyes widened in a bit of surprise; I couldn't believe the military was still on this stupid Ishballins-Must-Pay Kick. "Yes," Scar said, "They've destroyed our homes and massacred our people again and again, but they do not tire. They just keep coming. If those State Alchemists are indeed still trying to hunt me down, then right now may be their only chance to succeed."

I had to resist the urge to say anything negative. For instance, why did he say "if"? What did he expect, they'd just get unmotivated and decided to go have a tea party instead of looking for a man that killed their brothers and sisters? The moron was just _asking_ for a sarcastic response, wasn't he?

"Because you're injured..," Al added.

"What happened to your brother?" Scar asked.

I glanced to Al, curious as to his response. He simply replied with, "I don't care what happens to him."

Scar's eyes widened in surprise, which I didn't blame him. Just the other day, Al risked his own life for Ed, and now he doesn't care. Sighing, I said, "Ed's still at the hospital."

"What's wrong, Rick?" The older boy asked.

Glancing over at the boy who I now knew as Rick, I saw him look up at us with great worry, "Mom's locket! It's gone!"

The other boy sighed, "Who cares about that dumb ole' thing anyway? Just forget about it alright?!"

Rick gasped, having completely ignored his brother, "When I fell..!" He then turned, running off.

"H-Hey, wait for me!" His brother shouted before taking off after him.

"Wait, you can't! They might see you!" The Elder shouted, reaching out to grab them. But, they were already gone. "Rick! Leo!"

So _that's_ that little squirt's name!

"Don't worry, I'll bring them back..," Scar said before turning and walking away as well. I looked over at Al as he stood, following them.

I would've followed in any normal situation, but deemed it unnecessary and even more risky if more people were with them. I sighed, and looked back to the Elder with a smile, "I'm sure they'll be fine. They have two great fighters with them if anything does happen."

"I suppose you're right," The Elder replied, nodding in agreement. I began to look around the camp once more, and he chuckled, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but, what is your full name?"

"..." I blinked, looking over at him. "Riley Mauler..."

He nodded, "As I suspected."

I looked downward, "I take it you knew my parents?"

He nodded again, "Indeed I did. Quite well, actually. They saved me, on countless occasions. They were nice people."

After a small pause, I nodded, "They were."

"You look like your father, you know. Almost an exact resemblance, that's why I had to ask of your name," He explained.

I nodded in understanding, saying, "They risked everything to save Ishbal.. And look at where you're all at now."

He shook his head, raising his head, "Don't think such thoughts. They would be proud of where we're at. Most of us are at peace. All of us, alive. If they hadn't have helped, I'm sure our numbers would be far lower."

After a few seconds of thought, I realized he was right. This was just an obstacle they were crossing. I didn't need to worry.

Shortly after this, two men ran toward us, shouting, "We're being attacked outside!"

Which meant.. Al was too.

Oh man.. If Ed knew I was with Al and let him get hurt, _I'd_ be getting hurt.

I quickly stood, rushing out through the entrance. The closer I got, the easier I could hear gunshots. When I reached the outside, I could see that from on top of the stairs stood Leo along with a fighting Scar and Al. I rushed up the stairs, grabbing Leo's collar as I pulled him back down the stairs before running up ahead.

A soldier fought with Al using his gun, as another snuck behind him to attack Leo. He smirked, turning back to face in his direction, but stopped when he saw my fist instead of Leo. He flew back onto the ground where Scar finished him.

"Let go of him!" Al shouted. I didn't know who he meant until I realized that Rick was missing. I cussed under my breath as a soldier threw a smoke bomb at us. I quickly covered my face as I ran forward, out of the alley where I saw them take off in a car.

. . .

"So, they were mercenaries," Scar stated as he drove a car down the road. I was surprised he was driving, let alone talking while he did.

"Yeah," Al answered, "They're using an old military installation on the outskirts of the city. That's where Rick should be too." He leaned toward the back of Scar's chair and whispered, "But Scar.. Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean.. It's going to be kind of dangerous."

"Hey! Do you have some kind of problem with us coming along?!" Leo shouted.

I glared back as Al tried replying. Of course, I interrupted him completely, "I kind of do! You're just a kid, you don't need to be involved with this!"

He glared right back, eager to reply when the Elder said, "You have to realize, the strongest thing for an Ishbalin is his faith in the loyalty of his kin. If the life of an old man can help save a boy then I will freely give it up."

Leo looked away from me and as I yelled at him for ignoring me, he said, "He's right. Ishballins protect their own without hesitation. No matter what the cost is... Except for Mom... I remember it. Perfectly.." He began to tell the story of how his mother, basically, left them there for bait while she ran to hide in another room when soldiers attacked. "I never told Rick about that.. But I swore to never let anything hurt him because I would protect him.

The car stopped, and Scar looked to his right. "Over there..."

We snuck toward the building, where I placed my hands on the wall in front of us. I looked to Scar and Al, shaking my head, "One of you can break the wall. If I do, I might hurt Rick with the aftershock."

Al stepped forward, clapping. He sent a cage around most of the men on the inside and then created a hole in the wall. Rick laid right in front of us, so the Elder and Leo grabbed him, carrying him off.

"So now you're an Alchemist..," A big guy with green-ish hair said, smirking. "Get him!" He shouted, and three men ran toward Al and me. Before they could reach us, though, Scar exploded a part of the wall, using the debris to hit the men, knocking them over.

Big Boss Man smirked still, "I love it when I'm right." He looked to the others, "You take care of the chick and the tin can, this one's all mine." He ran toward Scar, engaging in battle.

I was pissed off now, at being called "chick". **No one** calls me that and gets away with it.

"So.. We meet again Little Brother," I hear behind me. I turn and see the same armor I saw at Lab Five. "What are _you_ doing here?" He asked before leaping toward Al, a blade in hand.

Moments later, a man came barreling toward me with a long blade aimed for my head. Quickly, I dodged back and began looking around. Dammit, I didn't have anything on me. I needed a weapon..! I glanced back to my opponent and gasped as I saw the blade coming downward. I quickly fell back, catching myself with my elbows. I yelped as my still injured shoulder was jerked forward by the force. The man went to throw the blade downward again, so I quickly lifted my booted foot, blocking the blade. Glancing down, I smirked and kicked my other foot upward, hitting him _right there_.

You know where.

He groaned in pain as he began to fall to his knees, so I kicked the blade from out of his hands, keeping it in between my feet as I flipped myself up into a standing position, grabbing the blade as I did. He yelled out in anger as he whipped out a gun. My brow twitched; I can't block _that_ with a boot...

He aimed at me as I clapped my hands together, blade in between. The blade began to heat up so I threw the blade at him, just as he began shooting. As the blade just started to pass the bullets, it exploded, taking the bullets with it. His eyes widened, jumping back to doge the aftermath and shrapnel that flew in odd directions.

"You leave him alone!" I heard a familiar voice shout.

Looking over, I smiled, "Ed!"

"What are you doing here?" Al asked confused. I sighed at his apparent stupidity.

"Well that's a stupid question!" Winry shouted, on the same train of thought as me, "Ed's been worried sick about you! He's been looking for you all over Central!"

"Brother..," Al trailed off, looking back to Ed. Quickly, he stood and kicked the other armor away as he went to fight with Ed.

Which I found a bit amusing, yet annoying at the same time. If that's all it took to finish him off, why didn't Al do it sooner? I mean, that kick was like a little poke!

My brow twitched when I saw other soldiers, along with the one I had been fighting, aim way bigger guns at us. Bazooka-like, they were. I ran to the others swiftly as Ed and Al raised a rock wall.

"Al? All this time, I've been too afraid to ask you.. But I need to know the truth, okay? It's my fault you don't have a real body anymore. Do you hate me-?!" The wall was exploded just after, causing Ed to fall to the ground.

"Eeeeh!" My eyes widened as I held up my arm, bending back. Unlike me, they didn't seem to notice the fact there was a big, gaping hole in the wall that was protecting us from freaking **bombs**.

"..What?" Al asked in shocked silence. Which.. Wasn't a literal statement.. If it was actual silence, he wouldn't have said anything..

Ed continued sitting there. "Do you? I wouldn't blame you if you did, Al, but I got to know. Do you hate me for all that's happened?"

"That's.. What you've been trying to ask me?" Al asked in response. I sighed. This whole family was a bit jacked up, if you asked me. The dad's apparently a jackass, one son has a growth problem and is missing some limbs, and the other son doesn't even think he's real. I almost felt bad for _Winry_.

"Al! Behind you!" Said girl shouted, bringing me from my thoughts. I looked up immediately, to see the same armor flying towards Al, giving a loud battle cry as he did.

"Brother.. I would never hate you!" Al shouted as he took a swing at the armor, once again sending him backwards.

After a bit more fighting, Ed confined the soldiers back into a cage. Metal this time, too. I smirked, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder. "So that's where the Metal part comes from."

He smirked, as if he became big headed. But I wasn't done. Ooooh no.

I scratched my nose as I looked away, saying, "I thought it was because it made a pipsqueak like you sound actually intimidating."

Ed's shoulders tensed, brow and fist twitching constantly. "..Nice to see you too, Riley," He growled out between gritted teeth. I giggled in amusement.

Minutes later, the Big Boss Man, who was fighting Scar, looked over, "Shoot hi-..Huh?"

"Time to give up," Ed said, stepping forward, "It looks like you're the only one who's left here."

"Who the hell are you?!" Big Boss Man shouted.

"A dog of the military, just like you," Ed stated, crossing his arms.

His eyes widened, "You're a State Alchemist? But that doesn't make sense. We're on the.. Same side!"

"Well.. This is a surprise," The armored voice said. I sighed; Couldn't he just melt by excessive heat or something?

Hey... That's a good idea.

Ed's eyes widened as he looked to the armor as it laid in a heap. "A real State Alchemist..," He started up again, "Please allow me to thank you.. FOR MAKING ME LOOK LIKE THIS!" He screamed out before running toward us.

I readied my hands, not wanting to clap just yet. My reasons were apparent when Al jumped in front of me. Before Al or I could do anything, Scar jumped in, hand glowing red. The armor shouted in pain as he flew back, on top of Big Boss Man. "Get off me!" Big Boss Man shouted, pushing away, and taking off running.

Suddenly, with the metal contraption and the armor "entwined", it exploded, sending arrows out all over. Al blocked Ed and I as the others hid themselves best they could.

After a second or two, I heard Leo shout, "Rick!" My eyes widened as I snapped my head to them, to see Rick down, arrow in his heart.

No...

I stood, taking off toward them. Al reacted the same. I bent down, skidding toward them a little as I looked down at Rick worriedly. "Come on Rick..," Leo mumbled, watching him as well. Slowly but surely, Rick opened his eyes. "Rick?!"

He sat up some and looked down. He then slipped out his mother's necklace. "..It's Mom's locket.. She saved me. See?" Rick said, looking up at Leo.

The locket opened, to show a picture of the boys and their mother, along with three small pills. The Elder 'hm'ed, taking them to look out. "Oh.. This is eye medicine."

"Medicine?" Leo asked.

"Evidently, your mother suffered an eye disease that leads to blindness, but as our people do, she pretended to be fine so that you boys wouldn't have to worry. Come to think of it, I remember she once told me how hard it was to care for you boys, because of some condition she had. But I bet it was harder on her on the inside."

Leo looked to his younger brother, "Our mother couldn't see, Rick.. That means... She.. She was looking for us. She ran into our room to find us and protect us from the soldiers, and that's when..." He began to cry, as Rick smiled at him.

. . .

"So.. Where will you go now?" Al asked. We stood on a pier; Ed, Winry, Al, and me. A canoe floating in front of us held Scar, along with several other Ishbalins.

"There is another group of our people in hiding, living free from the state, just like us. We'll travel downstream until we meet them," The Elder replied calmly.

Leo smiled, "Al, Riley, thank you for everything. Now every time I think of my mother, I'll treasure every single memory I have."

"Yeah," Al nodded, "Me too. And from now on, I'll know my memories are real. I'll have faith in that."

"Alphonse Elric," Scar mentioned, causing Al to look over at him curiously. "Earlier. I _did_ sense something. Tears that can't be seen, but felt. Those tears were.. Human."

Al nodded slowly, "..Thank you." I smiled; Now why couldn't Scar always be like this?

"So Scar," Ed started, ruining my thinking. "Tell me something. Did the Ishbalin people ever possess the Philosopher's Stone? Is that the real truth? And then the Military came after it?"

While I sighed at Ed's one-track mind, Scar replied with, "No, Ed. It's the other way around. We wanted the stone to keep the military from wiping out a race and a way of life."

"But did you create one? A Philosopher's Stone?" Ed repeated.

It was silence for quite a few seconds, until Scar looked at the others, "Let's get going."

The canoe began moving. "Hey, hold on!" Ed said, stepping forward. "I want an answer!" He shouted.

"Brother, let him go. Those people need Scar. He can help them," Al interjected happily.

I nodded in agreement as Ed leaned back in his normal position. Ed smiled a bit and looked over at us, "Let's get going."

Whoa, deja vu moment..

"Right!" Al replied. And then we set off.

Ed looked up at the sky. "You know Al, I've been thinking. We used to fight over the dumbest things, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Al chuckled, "Like who got to sleep in the top bunk."

"I remember.. I lost that one!" Ed laughed out. I sighed, this talk had me remembering what I had planned now that this was over. I had to go back to Dublith and talk to Hannah. I wasn't going to just let her go after so many years...

"Or what about that time we fought over the toys? I won."

"We used to fight over candy too, right? Hehe-.. Hey. I never won any of 'em!"

"Your negotiation skills sure haven't improved, I see."

"Hey!"

* * *

Chapter Translations!  
"Devetnaiset! That's 19!" Devetnaiset is Bulgarian.  
"Yirmi! That's 20!" Yirmi is Turkish.  
"Ekkkais! That's 21!" Ekkkais is Nepali.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	22. Dalawamput Dalawa! That's 22!

Sigh. I hate this episode.

It's _that_ episode.

...Episode...

Twenty-Five.

dun Dun DUUUN!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Hagenochibi**: Thanks! I agree with the description bit. It's definitely sort of my weakness.

**Kaijukote**: Yeah, I can imagine so.. I wasn't quite sure how I should've written it. I didn't want to put.. Like.., "And then I saw a flash of white and appeared in an Ishbalin house. Holy crap!" Xl  
Most definitely, he will be!  
ROFL! _That_ would the gnarliest scene ever! That is just made of epic win. XD  
Haha! XD  
(Hm.. I was thinking of something like.. Martin.. Or Jack.)

**AnonymousGirl18**: Hm, that's fine. X3 I'm kind of running out of ideas for languages, so it's nice to get more numbers! (Thumbs Up Here.)  
That sucks! Though it makes sense how you could begin to forget. English is one of the most popular languages. Just try to remember your language every day! XD"  
Really? Hm.. It probably is. It's around 4,57something words. Most of the others could be around 200 more words probably.  
Oh really? My Grandmother's birthday is August 13!.. I think.. (Checks) Yeah! August 13th! XD Mine is September 15th, so I have a few more weeks to go.  
Will do! (Salutes)

**AnimeFanGirl167**: Haha, indeed you are! XD And that is a _very_ good question... Fufufufu...!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review. Bwahaha!**

I'm so sorry this is short! But the next chapter will be much, much longer. I promise! This was all I had managed to get down this weekend, and it's where the episode ended. Like I said, I'll make the next way longer than this one!

I have **NO** rights or ownership to FMA. Hiromu Arakawa and FUNimation Entertainment do. Luckily. Imagine if 4Kids got a hold of FMA. o.o  
I have **ALL** rights and/or ownership to Riley, Hannah, and any other character, plot or location not created by FUNimation or Hiromu Arakawa.  
You have **NO** rights to either. Sucker. xP

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**  
Words of Farewell.

I sighed, staring at my things across from me in my hospital room.

They were destroyed.

From the metal canister down to the bendy straw. Which meant, even if I didn't have to chase after Hannah, I would still be going back to Dublith to replace my things, and get some new clothes. I wasn't entirely sure what I'd do after that. I mean, I was splitting away from Ed and Al, and we were never actually teamed up anyway so whatever happened after this trip was up in the air.

I stood from the hospital bed and grabbed the soaked, smeared, and ripped items, along with the camera which I had left in the hospital when I went after Al. I tossed all but the camera into the trash can as I headed out the door.

Heading over to Ed's room, I saw Block say, "It sounds like they're talking about some pretty heavy stuff."

"Well I'm not going to listen," Maria Ross said as she placed her fingers in her ears, "I've gotten myself in enough trouble already that way.

I smirked, "Not to mention that sounds a bit illegal."

Block jumped, looking over my way before laughing nervously. "Riley! I was just.. Listening to report to you, Ma'am!" He exclaimed, saluting.

Silence.

I shook my head, walking into the room, "It's fine, I'd do the same thing.." He let out a sigh of relief as I shut the door behind me.

Maes seemed to be the only one to have noticed me, as Winry exclaimed to Ed and Al, "What do you mean you don't care?! Are you crazy?!"

Ed shrugged, "We just don't think we should have to deal with dangerous things anymore, like the Philosopher's Stone, or homunculi."

"Yeah," Al said, nodding, "We thought we'd look for a different way, you know?"

I caught on to not only what they were saying, but doing. I knew Ed too well by now to fall for this. But what were they planning? Where were they going, and why didn't they want the Military to- Okay, it's obvious why they wouldn't want the Military to know, but that isn't the point.

Then again, it really isn't my business anymore, is it?

"Well boys, it would definitely be better but...," Armstrong trailed off.

Maes picked up for him, "If you really thought there was another way, why did you go through all this trouble?" So, Maes was suspicious as well.

"Who knows, maybe there's not," Ed replied casually. Yet another reason to doubt him – Ed was _never_ casual about the stone. He was impulsive, short tempered, and dramatic about the stone. "But there's someone we should ask," He ended.

"Our original teacher," Al informed us.

"She lives south of here. In a place called Dublith. We're planning on taking a trip there," Ed said.

"But it's just so sudden-" Maes stopped Armstrong from continuing, and looked at me. Finally, the rest of those bastards noticed me.

He smiled, "So Riley, you look like you have something to say."

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm going to be gone for a little while, a couple days to a week at most. Is that alright?"

Maes and Ed blinked in curiosity. "Where are you going?" Ed asked.

"Same as you," I shrugged, "I need to go to Dublith to get my things repaired."

He nodded, "Hannah's going with you?"

I paused, and sighed, "Actually, she's already there. She found out. Hence the second reason I'll be going."

His eyes widened, "Oh."

Nothing was said for a moment, and then Winry gasped. We looked over at her to see her staring at the map of Amestris on the wall. She pointed at the map, stepping forward slowly. "There.. On the way to Dublith.."

"What? What is it, Winry?" Al asked, confused.

Winry suddenly spun around in a circle, smiling, "Only the Automail Capital of the world, Rush Valley!"

I sighed, shaking my head at her excitement as she began jumping on the bed, shouting, "You got to take me there! You gotta!" She began to pull on Ed's jacket, "I've always wanted to go there, come on you guys! Please?!"

"Vacation on your own time, okay?" Ed grumbled.

"Well then who would pay for all my travel expenses?!" Winry remarked instantly, putting her hands on her hips.

Twitching, Ed shouted back with, "Very funny!"

"We can manage it. It's on the way, like she said," Al piped in happily.

Ed sighed, giving in. "Okay, fine..."

"Hurray!!" Winry exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

Eventually, Maes and Armstrong left the room, and I sat down beside the bed. "So, where are you really going?" I asked.

"What? We're going to Dublith of course!" Winry exclaimed. When Ed and Al didn't reply, she looked to them for back up. "Right, guys..?"

Ed looked over at me, "If you get done with Dublith in the next few days, go to Rush Valley. If not, meet up with us at the Ishbalin Refugee camp south of here."

I blinked in surprise. I would still be stuck with them?

Smirking, I nodded, "Will do."

. . .

I stood beside Gracia and Elysia next to the train as several other officers stood behind us. Ed and Al stood in the doorway, Winry behind them. As Elysia waved to them, I placed my hands on my hips, "I'll see you two in a few days, alright?"

Ed nodded, "Be careful, Riley."

"You too!" I winked at Al, "Be sure to keep him away from anything flammable, okay?"

As Al laughed, Ed's brow twitched. "Very funny..," He grumbled angrily, only making us laugh more.

They left into the interior of the train as we all waved. Once the train left, Maes places a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and he said, "You should make sure that shoulder's healed before you leave, Riley. You can stay with us until then, okay?"

I nodded in response at this, and looked over to his family. "Hey, Elysia, wanna know how to blow sulfur up?" I asked, a sly smirk on my face as I walked over to them, hands on my hips.

I could practically _hear_ Maes pale, "H-Hey! Don't teach her those things!"

. . .

I yawned as I walked toward the main room, stretching in the oversized PJ's Gracia let me borrow. I was leaving to Dublith tomorrow. Pausing, I stopped when I heard Maes on the phone in the main room. I peered in through the crack in the door to hear better as he said, "I'm sorry, I thought I told you. It was just some minor scrapes."

Tilting my head in curiosity as I could hear Roy's voice shouting at him through the other end, Maes continued, "More importantly, I've heard some things. Sounds like your transfer to Central may become finalized soon."

Mustang was being transferred? So what would that do to me? And the others? Were we just going to go under another unit?

"You need to hurry up and get important here so we can have an easier time! Find yourself a good wife!" Maes whispered

I laughed, walking into the room as I could hear the dial tone. "I don't see Mustang having a relationship with someone anytime soon, Maes," I laughed out.

Maes grinned, "Doesn't mean I can't encourage the guy!"

He walked passed me, and into his bedroom. When he came back out, he was once again in his uniform. I rose a brow, "Where are you going?"

. . .

"I don't think it's unreasonable," Gracia started as she and I stood at the doorway of Elysia's room, watching Maes tuck her in. He had explained everything to the both of us. Or, most to Gracia; And all to me. "Roy's worried about those boys and Riley, too."

"He shouldn't worry about something he doesn't have to. Or get bombed out with trivial things," Maes replied calmly. "Besides, if it's really coming from the inside, there's a good chance our lines have been tapped."

I nodded in agreement, "He has a good point. Depending on who on the inside it is, communicating right now is on the back burner."

Maes nodded. "Sorry, but I still have to check on something."

"Just.. Be careful," Gracia said.

Maes leaned toward Elysia, whispering, "Daddy has a lot of work to do. Bye bye!" He kissed her forehead and left the room.

Before he left completely, I ran to the door, grabbing hold of his arm. "If you find anything out, you'll come back and tell me before you act on it, won't you?"

He didn't reply for a moment as he put his jacket on. "Like you said, communication right now is on the back burner," He replied before leaving. I glared at the door, my brow twitching. Of all times for someone to actually pay attention to me, it's this time. Of course.

With Hannah  
(Ooooh.)

Hannah sighed, walking down the sidewalk toward the hotel she was staying at.

She had yet to leave Central. She knew Riley thought she had left, but she really hadn't. She had been to the train station every day so far, but before she could buy her ticket, she stopped. Something held her back. Riley did. Maybe she should've given Riley another chance. The two had been friends for so long, and Riley really did have good intentions.

Maybe she should just call Riley.

Tomorrow, of course. It was far too late to do it now.

She stopped when she saw two officers standing at a payphone. She squinted her eyes and then widened them in surprise when she saw that it was Maes Hughes. 'The one with the cute daughter..!' She thought to herself. When she noted it looked as though he couldn't find any change, she began to step forward, taking some out of her pocket.

Before she could reach him, he found change and made his call. "What?! What do you mean he's gone?!"

She blinked, curious. 'He sounds angry about something.' He hung the phone up, muttering something. He turned and began to leave with the other officer, but stopped walking, taking out a small throwing dagger, placing it beside the officer's neck.

Hannah froze on the spot. What was going on?

The officer turned to face Maes, waving a hand over her face. A mole appeared under her left eye and Hannah almost gasped. 'How did she..?!' The officer swung to get her gun out, but before she could, Maes slashed her throat.

The officer began to bleed as she fell to the ground. Maes began to walk off, and Hannah sighed in relief. But it wasn't over, and that was shown when the officer stood back up, transforming into another woman. She was thin, with short, light brown hair. Maes, upon hearing this, turned as he raised his blade.

But then stopped.

Why?

It clicked in Hannah's head. That was his wife.

His "wife" had her gun pointed at Maes. She said something, and then shot. Hannah's eyes widened in fear and shock, and dropped the coins she still held in her hand. Maes, and the coins, landed on the concrete.

With Riley.

I let out a sigh as I sat on the couch in the main room, waiting for Maes to return. I wasn't going to bed until I knew he what he knew. Gracia walked by, and stopped, "I'm sure he'll be fine, Riley.. Go to bed, okay?"

Looking over at her for a moment or two, I nodded, "I guess so." She nodded with a smile and headed to her bedroom to sleep. I decided to go ahead and do the same, and covered myself up on the pull-out couch. Just as I got comfortable, the phone rang.

Damn it.

I was going to ignore it, but when it crossed my mind that it could be Maes, I jumped up and grabbed the phone. Bringing it to my ear, I asked, "Maes?!"

"_N-No. It's me_.."

I blinked in surprise, "Sheska?"

"_Yes.._"

I crossed my legs, phone by my ear. I could hear her sniff a few times. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"_Lieutenant Colonel Hughes fired me, Riley_!" She cried out.

"Wha?!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Why would he do a stupid thing like that?!"

I could hear her shaking her head as she replied, "_I don't know! He just.. Fired me, and ran off._" Why would he fire such a valuable person, someone with excellent memory of military records, valuable military records, and then leave..?

Wait.. "Sheska, when did he leave?"

"_About an hour ago, why_?"

My eyes widened. If he left for home, he would have arrived already. But he was gone. I threw the phone down and jumped up, running to the door. Gracia came out as I did. "What's going o-Riley?!" She shouted as I swung the door open, taking off outside as I struggled to put my shoes on.

This wasn't good.

I began running around the area around HQ. I honestly had no idea where he'd be, I just knew he had to be close by. That was when I saw it. I came to a dead stop when I saw a payphone booth open, and a uniform clad body on the ground next to it. My eyes widened.

Maes...

Maes Hughes was dead.

Slowly and shakily, I made my way over to him. Once close, I could see his wounds. A cut on the shoulder, and a gunshot wound in the chest. I began looking around the scene for more, and further down the road, I saw some coins laying there. Next to it, was Hannah's purse.

No... Hannah, too?.. But where?..

Crying by now, I grabbed the coins and inched to the payphone to make a call.

. . .

Silence.

I sat against a tree that surrounded the cemetery, arms around my knees as I watching the burial. I should've shown, in uniform and all, but I couldn't do it. Maes was gone, putting on a stupid dress to stand there emotionless wasn't going to bring him back. I could see the officers clearly from here, as I could also see and hear Elysia shouting her protests to them burying her father. That didn't help.

A few hours had passed now, and the only ones left were Gracia, Elysia, Mustang and Hawkeye. The officers stood by the newly added grave for a while, while Gracia and Elysia headed over.

I looked up at Elysia as she walked over, hugging me. I didn't wait to hug back, silent as I did. "..I want you to have these," Gracia said, handing me a small box. With my free hand, I grabbed the box and opened it to see Maes' daggers.

Silence passed, and I nodded, looking up at her. "Thank you." She nodded and left with Elysia.

A little while later, I saw Mustang put his hat on, and looked over at me. A second later, he began to make his way over. He stopped about three feet or so away. "...Sorry, I didn't find him sooner..," I muttered in a mixture of anger toward both, Maes and me.

"You found him," Mustang stated.

After a tense moment of me thinking of a reply, I stood, running forward. He blinked in a bit of surprise as I hugged him, crying; And then placed a hand on my back as he let me.

* * *

I _hate_ that part..

No. More like, the whole episode.

Sigh.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	23. XXIII! That's 23!

Okay!  
Next chapter. Yaaay.

Sorry I got this out as late as I did, guys. Last month, I accidentally deleted _four entire pages_ of this chapter. And, in all honesty, I didn't want to write it again. (Shifty Eyes.)

9.15 was my birthday! So, I am now sixteen years of age. Teehee.

JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, I went to AWA! XD It was a lot of fun. I cosplayed(Naruto's Tobi again~). And now it's Halloween. xD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Dragon of Twilight:** Hehe. X3 Definitely, R.I.P. Maes Hughes.**  
**

**Hyourin-kusabana:** Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I know, that episode was horrible. DX**  
**

**AnimeFanGirl167: **Wow, that IS quick! I haven't really gotten into the new anime yet. I'm waiting for dubbed to come out(I don't have the greatest eyes so I don't like straining them with subbed anime)... I can't believe he dies in episode seven. DX**  
**

**Kaijukote:** Mhm! Everyone loved Maes Hughes... Sniff, Sniff.  
Lawlz at the Zelda reference! I can promise you now that she won't be with Envy. o.o That's mortifying.**  
**

**Samantha Hawkins:** Yes, w00t definitely! Scar is epicness.  
Oh? I see... Hm, I may insert a bit of Al/Hannah. I'm still not sure, really..**  
**

**Riley H.:** I think it's safe to say everyone hates it! Dx  
As much as I love killing my OC's, Hannah isn't dead. Yet. XP**  
**

**yumiXjaganshi:** Lawlz, that is Mustang's job, I agree!  
Mwahahaha, I'm just evil like that.  
I may have not updated as soon as any of us wanted to, sorry.. XD**  
**

**Lani99:** That's what's so sad about it too! He didn't even suspect that last blow. T.T  
Poor pedestrian! XO  
Envy killed Hughes~  
o.o You did a class report on my story? (That is like the BEST thing I've ever heard. Ever.)  
LEGASP! WHY SHAN'T I EAT COOKIE AND DRINK SODA AT THE SAME TIME?! (Shan't. Teehee.)**  
**

**Someone:** Thanks! XD**  
**

**xWeaselxWolfx:** Hiii. It totally does! Maes was one of the best characters. I cried so hard. Dx

**Want To Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

I do NOT own FullMetal Alchemist. It belongs to their rightful owners of Rumiko Takahashi and FUNimation... Wait.

It IS Rumiko Takahashi, right?

Oh. Oops. FMA belongs to HIROMU ARAKAWA and FUNIMATION.. (o.o Why the hell did Rumiko Takahashi come to mind?)

Anyway. I own Riley and Co. Teehee, Co...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**  
Coincidences.

This sucks.

I had been searching for Hannah all day. My feet hurt, it was way too hot, and I had nothing with me but my clothes and the daggers. So, I had headed back to HQ.

Reaching the building, I walked in to see Mustang, Hawkeye, and Maria Ross. "And now where are they?" Roy asked firmly.

"A trip," Maria Ross replied, "They're searching for a different method to restore their bodies. They'll contact us when they're ready, Colonel, Sir. Sorry."

Mustang glared and shouted, "I'm asking where they went!"

Maria Ross paused, a bit wary of Mustang. I sighed; He wasn't in a good mood, and I didn't blame him really. Maria Ross sighed, looking down as she tried to think of an answer. "Colonel!" Hawkeye exclaimed. The three of us looked over to see her pointing to the map on the wall. "Look here," She said.

Mustang walked over to the map, and looked at it closer to see Rush Valley circled. Suddenly, the door slammed against the wall as it swung open. I yelped in surprise as I spun around to see two people standing there; A black haired woman and a much taller, much bigger short haired man. "Take me to the Elrics, right now!" The woman shouted.

On instinct, Riza grasped at her gun. Mustang's face was priceless; A mixture of annoyance, surprise, and disturbance. I stood in my spot still, just a bit more pale. And confused. Maria Ross was the first to speak up, "They're gone."

"Where are they?!" Mystery Woman replied.

Maria Ross once more looked intimidated, "Um, just who- Who are you?"

"Hey," I heard a deep voice say. I looked over to see the man grab the map. Mystery Woman looked over at him and saw the same as us.

"Huh," She started before giving him the thumbs up, "Good job honey! Let's go." They then left as if they hadn't just barged into a room of military officers.

Heh. I liked her already, and I didn't even know her name.

So, obviously, I took off after them. "Hey! Wait!" I shouted, running toward them.

The couple stopped, and the woman looked over her shoulder at me, "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Who are you two?" I asked.

"Who are you?" She replied instantly.

Sighing, I stood calmer, walking toward them. Even though I had the urge to reply with 'I asked you first', I knew it was precaution measures. And I had no intentions of harm, so why not go ahead and answer what she wanted? If she was a major threat to Ed and Al, I doubt she would have acted as she already had. "Riley Mauler. I'm a friend and traveling buddy of Ed and Al's," I replied.

"Then why aren't you with them?" She asked, raising a brow.

"I have to go home to Dublith for a while," I replied, "Now who are you?"

"You live in Dublith as well?" The man asked. As well..? Wait. Didn't Ed tell the others he was going to Dublith to see his teacher? So that means..

I blinked in surprise, "Oh! You're they're teacher, aren't you?"

The woman paused, but nodded, "How'd you know about that?"

"I remember Ed telling a couple officers he was going to visit his teacher in Dublith," I mentioned.

They looked confused. "The Elrics aren't in Dublith," The woman said firmly, almost menacingly.

I sighed, "I said 'telling'. I didn't say they were planning on going. They're not, actually..."

Her eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips, turning to face me fully. "You know where the Elrics really are?"

I paused, before nodding. "Yes. You're on the right track, they're going to Rush Valley. You shouldn't miss them if you leave now."

She let out a simple hum in response and the two turned, walking off again. She paused and turned back, "What did you say your name was again?"

"Riley Mauler..," I replied.

The woman nodded, "Izumi Curtis." I paused, and nodded in response. She gave me a small "once-over", and turned, leaving. I was about to head back into the hospital room to tell Mustang I would be off, when I heard Izumi shout, "What are you waiting for?!"

I jumped, yelping a bit as I spun around, looking back at her. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"You're coming with us." Hold the phone! I wasn't going anywher-

She glared, towering over me with this aura that pretty much said, 'Don't Disobey'.

-Anywhere without them! Ehehe...

. . .

The train roared in our ears as Izumi, Sig and I sat in our booth. I was looking out the train window at the scenery as they sat still and silent. Since neither of them were providing me much entertainment(Even Edo provided some amusement by allowing me to insult him on a day-to-day basis!), I resorted to counting the telephone poles that flew by.

It was a lot easier than trees. Plus it took my mind off of Maes, and that's what I really needed at the moment.

"So you're a dog?" Izumi asked.

I wasn't sure if she was talking to me, so I looked over to see her staring me down with her arms crossed. I nodded, "Mhm."

She looked back ahead as she asked, "How long?"

I counted it up in my head and replied with, "About three years."

"Why did you join so young?" Sig asked.

A pause in thought came, and then I shrugged. "I was a journalist for them originally, and Mustang offered me a position under his unit..."

"I see," Izumi replied courtly. "So you're a dog by choice..."

My brow twitched at being called a dog. "Not all military officials are bad, you know!"

Suddenly, Izumi seemed to get big. Really, _really_ big. Bigger than Sig, kind of big. She glared down at me. "What?" She asked sharply.

I slowly nodded. "They aren't all bad! They're people too, just doing their jobs!"

"They hunt and kill people for their own greedy reasons!" She shouted, leaning to me.

I leaned right back as I shouted, "The Furher has greedy reasons, the military officials are just being loyal because they're supposed to be! The military has a lot of good men!"

"I'm sure they're good by the dirty standards they've set for themselves, but not by society's standards!"

"And what society are you talking about? The society the military goes after is the criminal part of it!"

"What about Ishbal then?!"

Sig had a huge bead of sweat rolling down his forehead dully.

. . .

I sighed as I stood behind Izumi and Sig. They were showing a picture of Ed and Al to a civilian standing in front of his shop. Izumi and I had continued arguing about the military the _entire train ride_. I felt bad for Sig, but with everything that came out of her mouth, I had one more thing to reply with; And visa versa apparently.

I looked around Rush Valley, and paled when I saw someone familiar.

Al.

"GO! Run!" I mouthed to him, waving him off. He looked confused, until he noticed Sig and Izumi. His 'eyes' widened and he nodded at me before turning to run away.

Here's the thing. Al = Metal + Running = Loud.

Izumi turned around quickly when she heard Al, and then waved, "Oi! You!" Sig turned as well and then the three of us made our way over to Al, as my brow twitched at our horrible attempt at stealth.

"Have you seen these two?" Izumi asked, holding up the picture to him.

"Oh... Um... Y-Yes ma'am," Al said, rubbing the back of his neck. I glared at him; Couldn't he just lie to her this one time?

. . .

"Brother! You'll never guess who's here!" Al shouted, rushing in.

I followed him, to see the inside of a small room. The walls were red, and there was a loveseat across from the door, in navy green. Ed blinked when he saw me. "Riley?"

I waved a bit, "Not me.." Ed was about to reply, when Sig came from behind me. Ed leaned back in his position on the couch, paling. Winry looked over, and I noticed a bit of a blush on her cheeks.

Blush..?

What the hell went on in while I was gone?!

"Ed, do you know this guy?" She asked, looking over at said boy.

He began to turn blue, "Yeah. And that means..." He trailed off and jumped off the couch, running to the window.

"Um, Ed, I wouldn't do that..," I mumbled when I saw him opening the window. Apparently he didn't hear me(Or was ignoring me, as usual), because he darted out the window.

..Only to be kicked in the face by Izumi. He flew back toward Winry and me, landing on his head and flipping onto his stomach. As painful as it sounded, it looked kind of fun, actually.

"And just where do you think you're going, Ed?" Izumi asked as she climbed in from the window. She sighed, "You've always been so predictable."

Ed looked up, wide eyed and gray-ish in the face. "H-Hello, Teacher.. W-What are you doing here?"

"That's your teacher..?" Winry asked, looking up at Izumi, "But that means she's.."

"An Alchemist," Ed finished for her. "Taught us everything we know."

I sighed, and headed outside the room, squeezing past Sig. I felt a bit claustrophobic at the moment. Just as I headed outside, Izumi shouted, "Where is Alphonse?!"

Sitting down against the wall, I looked around at the town. This sucked. I couldn't get Maes off my mind. If only I had gone with him. And, Hannah. If I hadn't lied to her in the first place, she wouldn't have left and.. And who knows what. She could be dead for all I know! Just like M-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I sat up straighter, looking over my shoulder into the window of the room to see Al being thrown into the floor by Izumi. Guess she figured it out.

I sighed again, slouching. It was bad enough Maes was dead and Hannah was missing. But now I have to deal with Izumi too? _And_ Winry? The two people that hate me most in the world. What a party.

. . .

I looked out the window of the booth in the train, beside Winry. Ed and Al sat across from us, tied together. Izumi had done it, along with taking Ed's pocket watch. "Are you sure you two will be alright?" Winry asked, looking over at them in worry.

"Yeah.. We just didn't expect her to come looking for us," Al mumbled out in reply.

I shrugged, "Expect the unexpected, right?"

Ed sighed, "Well I can't exactly say I'm comfortable like this. And it looks like we're headed directly for Dublith too."

Dublith... Hopefully Hannah was there. Maybe. I doubted it. I shook my head. I needed to get my mind off of it. Here I was, on a train. I couldn't do anything right now. But where was she? Was she hurt?

Sighing, I stood from my booth. Ed blinked, looking up at me. "Riley?" He mumbled, sounding a bit worried.

I paused, looking down at him. Smiling a bit, I shrugged, "Just going to get some fresh air." He didn't respond as I left the booth. To the left of me, a long table was placed, Izumi and Sig eating. How'd they get _that_ in here? Shrugging to myself, I walked to the right of me. I passed the first train cart, coming out onto the train Gauge.

Wind rushed by, and the sound of the train blared. It was nice to get some wind after all this. I continued standing there for a while, when I barely made out the sound of the door across from me opening. Looking over, I fell silent.

H... Hannah?!

Hannah's eyes were wide as she stood there in the doorway. "Riley..!" She exclaimed, smiling wide.

"EH?!" I shouted as I lost my footing, stumbling over. Her brow twitched as she ran forward, grabbing my arms. And so, I ended up in possibly the most uncomfortable position ever. Because there I was, my arms on one side of the Gauge, my feet tangled in the railing on the other side.

She sighed, glaring at me, "And here I thought you'd be saving me!"

I grinned. "Just get me off this, will you?"

. . .

"So.. What are you doing here?" I asked, sitting in a booth, across from Hannah.

She blinked, gaining an "Oh yeah!" expression, "M-Mr. Hughes!"

Pausing, I glanced away and nodded, "Yeah. I know. I found him at the phone booth.. And your bag."

She looked down at her lap sadly. "I... The thing that killed Maes.."

I blinked, "Thing..?"

"I don't know," She shook her head, "She.. She changed. Maria Ross, first.. Then.. Then Maes' wife.." She covered her mouth, shaking her head more, "I don't know."

My eyes narrowed. Changing shape? That wasn't normal, obviously. More like a Homunculus thing. But which? It wasn't Lust, I know. Or Gluttony. How many were there to begin with?

Envy came to mind. Come to think of it, I didn't know much about him. "Did he change shape again, Hannah?"

She nodded. "It changed to this.. This person. Long hair.. Black clothing. I thought it was a girl, but it's voice-"

"Sounded like a man on helium?" I asked, a straight face on.

She grinned nervously, nodding, "I guess."

Then that settles it. It was Envy. Sighing, I asked, "What happened with you, though? I thought he took you or something."

"He was going to... After he changed, he spotted me.. I took off running. I went to a hotel to stay in. This morning, I went to the bank and took some money out of your account for a train ticket-"

"You took money out of my account?!" I exclaimed, wide eyed. Great, my best friend's a thief! And here _I_ was feeling guilty!

She nodded, unphased. "I had no money, since I dropped my bag. I wasn't going to steal!"

My brow continuously twitched, glaring at Hannah. "I think that term applies in this situation, Hannah," I muttered out.

Wait a minute... How'd she even know _how_ to get my money out of my account?!

. . .

"Let's move out, Al!" Ed exclaimed from the doorway of our booth. Hannah and I were just entering the cart as he took off out of the booth. My brow rose as I amusedly watched his state watch get thrown into his face. It stuck there as Ed fell to his back.

Hannah's eyes widened as she held her hands to her chest in worry. And fear. "W-What..?"

I smirked, shrugging, "Long story."

"Brother!" Al shouted, rushing out of the booth and bending down to check on Ed. He looked to his left and froze at the sight of Izumi and Sig, both glaring them down.

"W-Who are they?" Hannah asked.

I explained it to her as we got closer. "All that work, and you still haven't learned a thing. Have you, boys?" Izumi asked, glaring at them.

"You two alright?" Hannah mumbled to them.

Ed, looking dizzy, laughed a bit, "Oh, hey... You're back..."

. . .

"So much for our escape plan..," Al mumbled. He and Ed were both shivering as they walked far behind Izumi and the others. I walked beside them, glaring at the back of Hannah's head, my arms crossed.

Izumi got along a little too well with Hannah and Winry. Kiss-asses.

"Che. And this is what I get for coming to Hannah's rescue..," I muttered under my breath. Okay, so maybe I was a little exaggerative. But still, Hannah didn't have to be all buddy-buddy with Izumi. _Or with Winry, for that matter_.

"What?" Ed asked, looking over at me.

"Oooh, nothing!" I exclaimed, laughing as I waved him off.

He shook his head, looking back to the road, "I get chills just thinking about what she's going to do to us now."

"Yeah..," Al nodded in agreement.

We reached a house, fencing around it save for the opening to the door. A girl from the house ran toward Izumi to greet her. Izumi smiled as the two engaged in idle, small talk. I blinked, taking a break from glaring at Hannah so I could look around. "What is it, Riley?" Hannah asked, looking over at me.

"We're close to the doujo.. I think I'm going to go ahead and head over there to get my stuff fixed," I replied.

Ed and Al looked over. "Doujo?" Al asked in curiosity.

I nodded at him, "I'll tell you later."

"Want me to tag along?" Hannah asked.

I pouted, glaring at her, "Oh, no, don't stop sucking up on my account."

"I don't know what you're talking about," She muttered, looking away 'innocently'.

Ed looked up at me, hopeful eyed. "Want _me_ to tag along?"

With a dull expression, I looked over at him. When I saw the puppy dog eyes, I blushed a bit and quickly looked away, "Hell no."

His brow twitched, "Why not?!"

"Izumi already doesn't like me. I'm not saving you," I shrugged casually, before walking off.

"H-Hey! TRAITOR! Is this how you treat the FullMetal Alchemist?!"

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	24. Veinticuatro! That's 24!

Alert! This story has a Japanese term! o.o  
Gi. Those are the black and white kimono-like clothing you see at dojos. I wasn't sure of there was an English word for it(They aren't kimonos, and KIMONO is a Japanese term, as well anyway.)

Argh. I posted this nine hours ago, but I didn't get a notification that I posted it! Dx(Then I noticed words were missing so I had to go back _again_ and edit.)

I'm going to Anime Day! Argh, my Con life is picking up. o.o I shall spend a hundred dollars on candy and then complain about how I didn't get enough once we leave. Fun!

But the BESTEST thing is? My birthday present! I'm going to a Train concert! Nov.17!~ I'm _sososososo_ excited.(So excited, I used _italics_. Mhm.)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Nautikitti:** Thanks! XD

**The Elemental Alchemist Reyna:** I'm glad you liked it! Hehe, that was my favorite too.  
Really?! I go every year as my Birthday present. xP You should definitely go again. AWA's pretty fun~

**theretard5892:** xD

**Dead(dot)SummerXx**: Yesh, Riley's comebacks are awesomeness. XDD Thanks!

**Spiritshipper-SuzaEuphy09:** I'm glad you like it!  
XD  
Thanks! Riley's an interesting one.

**AnimeFanGirl167:** Yes.. He totally would.  
Legasp! Oh noes. Glasses are so easy to break! (Claps hands together repeatedly, despite nothing happening.) T.T  
Contacts! I've never tried contacts. Like them better than glasses?  
XD o.o Ohnoes. You shall update!

**Sparkalie:** Thank you!  
Haha, nice. XD  
I'm glad you like Riley. I molded her a lot.  
Thanks! And I'm sure your stories are good! (Nodding.)

**CakesInTheSummer:** Thanks. When I wrote that last line, I almost heard him saying it in my head. XD

**AnonymousGirl18:** Glad you think so. X3  
Hm.. The Roman Numeral title?(I'm a bit on the slow side at the moment.) I think that's right.. And that's perfectly understandable! School can fill up a lot of schedules.  
Thank you! ^^

**Lani99:** Dude. That's so.. So gnarly. I love you.  
Zomg! Teacher with taste! XP  
Tis continues!  
Dx. I'm STILL waiting for my Homeschool Certificate of Attendance(Need a breath after that..) so I can get my Learner's. T.T

**Mira Hinder:** o.o No internet connection? That's hurribul!  
Thanks! XD Yes, Izumi is awesome.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

FullMetal Alchemist isn't mine. Riley is. Hannah is. The Mauler Dojo is. Every character at the Mauler Dojo is. But FullMetal Alchemist isn't.  
The Scar part of this goes to Kaijukote. xD

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**  
T-Training?!

The Mauler Dojo. A place for learning morals. Growing respect. Gaining strength. And being afraid.

Very. Very. Afraid.

I stood in front of a traditional styled, wide house. It stood on a foundation, a porch going all the way around. Columns held up the roof. I let out a long sigh and headed up the smell set of steps. Once on the porch, I looked both ways. It was oddly quiet around here. _No screaming, I mean_.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Eyes going wide, I stumbled backwards, tripping over the top step and tumbling over. Which hurt. My neck felt broken, for God sakes! Groaning in immense pain as I rubbed the back of my throbbing neck, I looked up angrily. On the porch, stood a little girl. She was thin and lanky, brown hair in high pigtails. She wore shorts and a long sleeved shirt, as she held a bamboo sword.

"Who the hell are you?!" I growled at her.

She glared, 'hmph'ing. "You must think you're something, doing that little move to avoid my wrath!"

I fell silent. My brow twitched as I stared at her in deadpan. Little move? I almost broke my neck! That wasn't a move, that was a suicide attempt! "Who.. Are you?" I repeated slower.

Her mouth fell open a bit, before she quickly regained her posture, glaring at me again. "I'm the one asking questions here!"

"Then why haven't you asked any yet?" I replied dully.

Silence.

"Y-You didn't give me enough time to!" She replied angrily.

"You have time to," I nodded instantly.

She was about to reply, her fists shaking, when a deeper, male voice came up. "Shiori, yeild." Both of us blinked, looking over to her left. A tall, black haired man began turning the corner. He was big and buff; Wearing a red and white Gi.

"M-Master!" Shiori exclaimed, bowing at him. I began to stand, only to have Master Gregory shove his fist into my forehead.

I twitched, sitting on my knees with a man's fist on my forehead. Fun. We both glared at each other as I mumbled, "What?"

He glared harder as he pulled his fist away, revealing a red mark, "You didn't dodge her sword. You tripped. Still just getting by with dumb luck, I see."

Pouting, I looked away 'innocently'. "Not funny..," I muttered, crossing my arms as he headed back up the stairs.

Shiori laughed, pointing at me. "Maybe not, but your face sure is!"

Glaring, I got in her face as I shouted, "Well then why don't I give you a mark too, huh?!"

She glared back at me, no longer laughing. Gregory let out a long sigh as he walked down the porch. "Riley, what did you come for?"

"Riley?" Shiori mumbled, "Riley Mauler?"

I 'didn't notice' her as I followed Gregory. Heh. We walked into the main room as I explained. "My things were destroyed last week, and I need them again."

He nodded. "You do realize you'll have to fight for them," He stated as if it were obvious. He walked to the dresser in the corner of the room and opened a drawer. Taking out a Gi set, he held it out for me.

I paused. I didn't have time for this. Well, maybe. What were the others doing? Would they be around long enough that I wouldn't get lost once I got out of the Dojo? But that didn't matter, right? I knew where they were going. Letting out a sigh, I nodded and took the Gi, "Yeah, I realize.."

"Good," He said. He shut the drawer and said, "You can share a room with Shiori."

"What?!" Shiori's voice was heard, before she came falling through the rice paper door. She landed on her stomach, and looked up quickly. "I'm not sharing a room with the Mauler Dojo Clown!"

"Mauler.. Dojo.. Clown?" I mumbled, wide eyed. "Just what the hell have people been saying about me?!" I shouted. Shiori and I both glared up at Gregory, who's brow was twitching.

"Stop yelling, I'm trying to concentrate!" A man shouted as he ran into the room, glaring. "R-Riley?" He blinked a few times, before laughing, "Hey!"

Gregory sighed in irritation as I laughed as well, "Jacob!"

The two of us engaged in conversation, and Gregory grew more and more irritated. "WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP?!" Gregory screamed. The three of us all fell silent and pale, staring up at Gregory in fear. His fists shook as he glared. "The Mauler Dojo is a place to learn respect, dignity, and strength. NOT TO ENGAGE IN IDLE CONVERSATION!"

"Jeez," I started as I cleaned my ear, "You don't have to be so noisy, Master Gregory."

He glared at me with a mixture of narrowed and wide eyes, brow twitching at me. Jacob snickered before sighing, "Well I should get back to my room, now. I'll see you around, Riley." I waved at him as he left.

. . .

"This practice gains stamina, as well as morals and value. It's the perfect training method for those with little stamina. It speeds up the slow ones and gains respect for the elders. It's perfect!" Gregory exclaimed, arms crossed as he stood on the porch, eyes closed.

There I stood, sponge in my hand as a bucket of water stood beside me. The floor was clean, drying from the past hour I spent racing back and forth on it.

Bastard.. Made me clean a porch as he rambled on and on about morals and stamina.

Panting was all Gregory heard in response. "Hm?" He mumbled, opening his eyes to see what was going on. He almost stumbled to the ground in shock as he saw me standing there, panting heavily as I glared up at him, sponge being squeezed to the point every last drop of water was falling from it to the ground.

"I don't know what practice _you're_ talking about," I paused to raise the sponge in the air, throwing it at him, "BUT I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOU!"

As the sponge slammed into his face and began sliding down a slow, snail-like manner, his expression went deadpan. "You're still just too cheap to hire actual maids," I growled out within my pants as I glared up at him still.

"Hn..," He muttered as he grabbed the sponge, throwing it onto the ground. "And you're still an ungrateful brat that doesn't see the reasoning behind my decisions." He smirked, gaining an evil glee in his eye as he towered over me, "That just means I'll have to show you by making you do the laundry as well."

. . .

Shiori let out a sigh as she began opening the door to her room. Walking in, she turned around, flipping the light switch on.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Jacob ran into the room behind Shiori, an alerted look on his face. Shiori leaned against the wall, her hands in the air as she tried to block her sight. Jacob blinked dully, before sighing, "Riley..?"

I laid on the floor, my arms and legs sprawled out. My eyes swirled(Dude, is that even possible?!) around as I looked over at the two. They both stiffened, stepping away from me some. "Yeeess...?"

"Master Gregory made you do the chores, didn't he?" Jacob asked.

I nodded, which only made me dizzier so I groaned, stopping. "Hate him..."

"Don't we all," He muttered, walking off.

Shiori sighed, walking in as she began to undo her gear. "Will you move over to your bed?"

Groaning more, I held my hands in the air, "Move me?"

She deadpanned, her brow twitching as she glared at me. "No way," She replied. Spoiled brat.. She sat down on her bed, and yawned, "I can't believe _the_ Riley Mauler is tired from simple chores."

I sat up quickly, glaring at her. "Simple chores? This is Gregory! Those aren't chores, those are forms of torture! I almost died, _twice_!"

Shiori rolled her eyes, "Whatever.."

I scowled; Didn't anyone care about the state of humanity these days?

. . .

Ed and I stood there on the side walk in Central, ignoring the rain, as we looked over at the man that stood several feet away. Scar.

Scar's eyes narrowed as he looked at me. "You. We meet again..," He stated firmly, not bothering to say anything to Ed.

I nodded grimly. "So it seems," I mumbled in reply.

Ed's eyes widened, looking between Scar and me. "You two.. Know each other?!" He exclaimed in shock as he looked over at me.

Letting out a sigh, I glanced away from them both. "We... Have a past," I said, causing Ed's eyes to widen even more.

"You promised we would be together forever," Scar suddenly said, glaring at me.

My eyes widened a bit but I quickly responded, shaking my head, "It was never meant to be! We're just too different."

Ed shook his head, waving his arms around angrily. "Woah, woah, woah! When the hell did _this_ happen?!" He shouted, looking at Scar, and then back at me in a panic.

We ignored him though(Of course) as Scar stepped forward, holding his arms out in a begging manner. "Riley, my lurv! We can make things work!" He shouted, looking at me.

I paused, looking at him with sad eyes. After a moment, I nodded, happy. "Scar!" I exclaimed, going starry eyed as I ran toward him.

He smiled wide, holding his arms out, "Riley!" I ran into his arms, and he picked me up, running down an alley. Running out the other end of the alley, he ran through the dry, sunny desert.

Suddenly he ran into a brick wall and everything poofed away as I woke up.

Sitting up quickly in my bed as I let out a loud scream, my eyes widened in fear and shock. Shiori, startled from her sleep, jumped high into the air, falling out of bed in the process. Footsteps banged on the porch outside as they grew loud, before the door slid open. Jacob, Daisuke, and a few other members of the Doujo ran in.

"Riley?!" Jacob exclaimed, rushing over and grabbing my shoulders.

I cried, shaking as I held my head in my hands, shaking my head. "No no no no no no no no no no no no..."

"Riley..," He mumbled, shaking me.

Quickly, I leaned forward, hugging him, "I DON'T WANT ISHBALIN BABIES!"

Silence.

Jacob blinked several times, trying to process what I said. Shiori was twitching, glaring at me as she held the covers of her bed tightly in her fist. Daisuke grinned nervously, rubbing the back of his head. The others only sighed, shaking their heads as they went back to bed.

I, on the other head, was still traumatized. And for a good reason, too!

. . .

Jacob and I sat on the steps, taking in the quiet while it lasted. Which, this being the Mauler dojo, wouldn't be long. I was still shaken up about my nightmare last night.

Come on! Is there some mighty powers above that are out to get me or something?! The thought of even having a friendship with Scar is unsettling, but _that_?... I'll be scarred for life..!

"So what was last night about anyway?" Jacob asked, resting his arms on his knees. I shuddered, wrapping my arms around my knees. I then dived into the story of who Scar was, and what the dream was about. By the time I had finished, Jacob was laughing his ass off.

Jerk..

I glared at him, "It isn't funny! It's emotionally scarring!"

He panted, holding his stomach, "Whatever you say, Riley.. I think you've been traveling with the Elrics too long."

I blinked, looking back ahead to the scenery. "So Daisuke told you about them?" When he nodded, I sighed.

Before either of us could say anything else, Shiori headed over. "Mastor Gregory wants you at the training grounds. Now."

Nodding, I glanced at Jacob, "Wish me luck.."

. . .

I reached the training grounds, seeing wooded area all around us still. I glanced to the far left, to see a small patch of woods that was burnt black. I grinned; That was where I exploded myself.

Heh.

Gregory stood there, waiting. Looking over at me, he nodded, "Take your place." Quickly, I did so. "No alchemy. Just limbs."

I nodded, "Fine." We stared each other down a moment, but he darted toward me.

Sending a fist to my face, I raised my arms, blocking it. I flew back from the impact, but managed to stay on my feet. I landed on the ground and charged at him, throwing my leg toward his face. He grabbed my leg and swung me around, letting go. I hit the ground hard, and rolled over to avoid his punch. Before he moved his hand away, I grabbed his wrist and kicked myself up, to knee him in the face. He jerked backwards, throwing me into the air as I still had a grasp on his wrist.

I flew into the air, but flipped, landing on my feet. He spun toward me, kicking at my face. Jumping up, I dodged it and aimed at his face. He moved away, but was too slow. He rubbed his cheek before having to duck as I sent a kick his way. Standing back up, he grabbed my arm and slammed me into the ground. I let out a yell from the pain of the backlash, and shoved my foot into his stomach before kicking over. As he was tossed over me, and into the ground, I flipped over and held his wrist in a painful position as I placed my foot at his throat.

"And what would you do in this situation if it were real?" Gregory asked.

"Knock him out," I snorted in response. He sighed as I backed off.

He stood, looking over, "Jacob's working on your things now. You can leave when he's finished."

. . .

I yawned, stretching as I sat on my bed. Jacob was sitting against the wall as he waited for the gloves to finish. He was currently going through my things, which I didn't really care. Jacob always did that.

I was thinking about Ed and Al. What was going on with them? How much was I missing?

_Ed blinked when he saw me. "Riley?"_

_I waved a bit, "Not me.." Ed was about to reply, when Sig came from behind me. Ed leaned back in his position on the couch, paling. Winry looked over, and I noticed a bit of a blush on her cheeks._

_Blush?_

...I had to get back to Ed and Al.

"Hm..? Oh, who's are these?" I blinked, looking over to Jacob. He sat crossed-legged, examining Maes' old blades.

I paused, thinking about Maes. Again. "They're mine," I replied simply as I continued stretching, "An old friend gave them to me."

"I see... They seem a bit dull for your tastes. Want me to sharp-"

"No," I replied instantly, looking back at him. Sighing, I shook my head, "Just leave them, please."

Raising a brow, he looked over at me. "Sounds like this old friend meant a lot."

I sighed, resting my arms as I laid down. "Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes... Killed by a homunculus."

Jacob's eyes widened, "Homunculus? Riley, what the hell are you getting into?"

Shaking my head, I looked over at him, "It's just military business, Jacob. Don't worry about it. We'll be fine."

"If you say so," Jacob mumbled, shrugging.

"I say so," I said, nodding.

A few minutes passed, when Jacob sighed, "Your gloves are now officially wearable."

"Thanks, Jacob..."

He blinked, looking over at me as he stood. "No problem. What are friends for?" He replied, smirking as he left. Silence passed as I looked over at Shiori, who slept soundly. _Because she was wearing ear plugs_. Sighing, I glanced over to my bag and looked at Maes' blades.

'_I'm sorry, Hughes.._,' I thought, looking at them still. Maes was gone forever.. Even despite the fact I felt horrible about it, I still felt numb – Like I hadn't fully been hit by realization that I wouldn't see Maes again yet. Sighing, I rolled onto my back, and let myself drift to sleep.

But not before praying I wouldn't ever have that Scar nightmare again.

* * *

Hm.. Would you spell it "lurv", or "lurve"? o.O

Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! _Rawr_.

Chapter Translations!  
"Dalawamput Dalawa," is Tagalog.  
"XXIII," is Roman Numerals. XD  
"Veinticuatro," is Spanish.(Thanks to the review who told me. For some reason, I got 26 caught in my head when I was looking up numbers.[SweatDrop Here])


	25. Fünfundzwanzig! That's 25!

Am I the only one with a hate/love relationship? I didn't think so.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Kaijukote**: Heehee, yes! I did! XD  
Aww, yay!  
Shiori is definitely stuck-up. I wanted to dwell more into Jacob, but alas, I find little chance to. Lawlz at the Gregory/Izumi bit! That's very true.  
Maeeeesss!!! T.T  
Thanks for the awesome reviews! xD

**Lani99**: Lawlz! Seriously. o.o  
Thanks!!  
Aaaaaahh.. I see.. I'll be sure to remember that! XD

**atemfan1**: Tank chew!! x3

**Want to be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

FullMetal Alchemist isn't mine. It belongs to a Japanese woman named Hiromu Arakawa. I'm Irish. And named Taylor. Yeeaah...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**_  
Izumi-Say-Whaaa?_

Jacob smirked, landing hard on the ground after being tossed into the air. He panted a bit, before slipping blades from underneath his sleeve, holding them in between his fingers.

We had started sparring two hours ago. _Two. Hours._

Taking in and letting out a deep breath, I ran toward Jacob. He took off toward me as well, and sent his blade-filled hand at my face. Ducking, I kicked my foot at his face. He ducked backwards and grabbed hold of my arm, slamming me into the ground. Wrapping my legs around his arm, I shoved him down, kicking him into the ground below me. As he tried recovering, I flipped backward, standing back up.

He groaned, rubbing his face as he began to get up. "Could you have done that slower..?"

My expression turned deadpan, "Yeah, cause when I'm going to slam a guy into the ground, I wanna give him enough time to defend himself."

We both controlled our breathing as we headed toward the dojo. I sighed, stretching, "I still don't see why you've stayed here, Jacob. You're better than I've been and yet you stay."

Jacob shook his head as he placed his blades back in his sleeve, "Not everyone can't wait to leave home, Riley."

I paused; Was that how you could describe me? Wanting to leave home..?

Sighing, I headed to my room, "It's not that I want to leave home.. I just have a job and people to look after."

"Now you do. But you remember back then.. You wanted out of here more than anything."

"I guess so..," I said, sighing as opened the door. "See you after I change.. And deal with Shiori.. Who the hell does that kid think she is anyway..."

Jacob smirked, chuckling, "She's Gregory's niece, actually."

"Surprise," I muttered sarcastically as I headed into my room.

. . .

I stood in front of the porch of the dojo, staring up at Gregory, Shiori, Daisuke and Jacob. It was around lunchtime, and I was heading back to Ed and Al. "I'll see you guys later," I said.

As Gregory nodded his head in reply, Daisuke grinned, "Sorry we didn't get to know each other during your stay.."

Deadpan with my emotion, I replied simply, "You're sorry about that?"

He blinked and laughed nervously, as Jacob smirked. "Take care, Riley."

I nodded and glared at Shiori, who was already glaring at me. "Go die, brat," I said bluntly. Her eyes widened in surprise and offense and as she began yelling insults at me, I turned and walked away. Hehe...

Now, it was just a matter of time till I got back. _Hopefully Ed didn't blow up too much._

. . .

I let out a long yawn as I walked out of a bakery, after eating. I had decided to eat before I got all the way back to Izumi's. You know, in case she thought I should just "starve like the rest of the pain-hungry mutts of the military!"

..Okay, so she never said anything even remotely like that, but come on. She totally would if given the chance.

As I stepped outside the bakery, a flash of white and black ran past me. I blinked, stopping in my tracks curiously. Not even a minute later, a blur of yellow ran after it.

A _short_ blur of yellow.

"E-Ed?.." I muttered, surprised. Looking to my left, I saw Al, as expected. "Al!" I exclaimed, waving my hand at him. He either decided to ignore me or he didn't notice me as he continued running by me. I, however, took it as the first option so, angrily, I jerked my foot out and watched as the big metal robot fell to the ground in a loud heap.

Sitting up to his knees quickly, Al looked over his shoulder and saw me. "Riley..!"

I stared down at him simply, hands on my hips as I pursed my lips. "Hn.. Just WHAT is going on, Alphonse?"

He sighed, "It's a long story.. I'll explain everything later!" Jumping up to his feet again, he took off. I shouted his name, but he just ignored me. _For real, this time_. My brow twitched and I began to chase him. But the thing is, despite his abnormally unusual height and noise; I managed to lose him amidst the crowd at the intersection. Pathetic, I know.

I looked around, pissed as I tried to find any sign of Ed or Al. But no. Groaning, I ran down a randomly chosen road and began looking down there. As I came to a corner, this.. Thing, comes around the corner and shoves past me. "H-Hey, watch it!" I shouted, turning around to look at the guy. My eyes widened when I noticed something odd about him.

He had a tail.

Tail?.. That meant.. A chimera..! Forgetting about the Elrics, I ran after him, "Hey!" He glanced back to see me, and sped up. What was a Chimera doing around there? I continued to run after him, when he made a sharp turn down another road. I sped up, turning down the road as well. Great. Another intersection. I spun around, looking for him. I couldn't find him. There was no way he could've gotten so far! Then again, it was a Chimera, so it could be possible... But damn it, did I have to lose _everybody_ today?

Walking down the road, I looked around constantly for Ed, Al, or Chimera-Dude. Whichever or whoever came first. Either way, I was getting some answers. "Aaaaaah!"

Pausing, I looked up to see a black-haired kid tumbling off the roof of a house I was passing by. Black-haired..? That black and white flash that passed me, maybe? I ran over to the edge of the house and held my arms out wide. I could've used alchemy, yes, but I didn't feel the need. He wasn't that far from the ground, and besides, I wasn't going to perform alchemy in front of tons of people. He looked young, he'd bounce back. Well, not literally. _I hope_. The kid fell off the roof, and came tumbling down.

And bam.

Right. On. The. Face.

Damn it.

Groaning as I laid on my back, the kid let out a yell of surprise as he sat up, raising his stomach from my face. He blinked a few times, looking down at me as I rubbed my head, sitting up. "Could you watch it next time, kid?..," I muttered.

He was silent, and as I finally managed to open my probably damaged eyes, I heard, "R-Riley!" The boy and I both looked up to see Ed bent over the roof. His eyes were firm on the kid. "Grab him!"

My head turned to the kid and he quickly gained a fearful look, "Y-You're with them!"

"Eh..?" I mumbled incoherently. Before either of us could do anything, a yell was heard from above. I looked up to see that Al had ran into Ed, and both were falling from the roof.

Close your eyes, people. Imagine a boy falling from a roof, and a beautiful, heroic warrior saving him. Now, imagine a car falling on them.

That's what I imagined.

Letting out a loud yelp, I grabbed the kid's arm and yanked him up as I jumped backward, narrowly missing the brothers. "You've lost your damn minds!" I shouted, glaring at them. Yeah, Ed was being squashed by Al, but I didn't really care.

. . .

The boy looked at his hands as we all sat in silence back on the roof of the house(Why, I have no idea!). Al had explained everything to me as Ed sat with him for a while. I was, well, surprised I guess. It's not everyday you find somebody with your arm and leg...

It's not everyday somebody _has_ your arm and leg.

The kid looked over at our arms and legs before asking, "How come both my arms and legs look so different from yours?"

Ed paused as the three of us shared a glance. Ed looked down at his right hand, "That's because.. This arm and one of my legs aren't real."

"Well that's dumb!" Kid started, "What'd you do with the real ones?"

Looking over at him, Ed replied, "It's.. Hard to explain."

He leaned toward Ed like a curious little kid. "Where are they now?" He asked.

Ed's eyes widened, silent. I sighed, looking over at them as Al intervened, "Well, what about you? Are you sure you don't remember how you got that scar?" He shook his head in response, and the brothers stood, walking to the top of the roof, talking.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kid asked, looking back at Ed and Al.

Shrugging as I stared into space, I glanced over at him lazily, "Identity Theft?" He blinked, confused. I sighed and laid my back on the roof, hands behind my head. "So, do you have a name?"

He paused, staring into space before shaking his head, "I don't know."

"You don't know..," I mumbled, repeating him. Smiling, I sat up excitedly. "Well I'll give you a name!"

He blinked a few times before smiling, "Really?!"

I nodded, "Of course." Pausing, I looked over at him, examining his face. Hm... He looked like a.. Stephen.. Or Christian.. Or...

Just as I had decided on the perfect name for him, I heard something going off, along with an alchemic reaction. Eyes widened, I looked back behind me to see a stone arrow heading our way.

Stone arrow..? Armstrong?!

Within seconds, it hit the chimney beside us, and I had to guard Kid(Since he didn't have _my_ chosen name for him yet) from debris. "Major! What the hell are you doing?!" Ed shouted. Looking further, I could see Armstrong tossing another rock into the air. He punched it and sent it our way.

I held the kid to me again as the arrow hit closer. Unnoticeable to me, we had been inching closer and closer to the edge because of the explosion impacts. When I was able to notice it, the kid had already slipped. He let out a yell as he began to fall off the roof, reaching for us. "H-Hey!" I shouted, reaching out to catch him.

"Riley!!!" Ed shouted, which was soon followed by a hand grabbed hold of my ankle.

As I began falling, I was going to glare at him for stopping me. It's not like I nose-dived off a roof or something. I wouldn't have fallen if he didn't do that!

But when I looked up at him?

Heh...

There I was, hanging upside down. Off the roof. Apparently, I tripped off the roof in the process of grabbing at the kid, and didn't notice it. And Ed came to the rescue. Sighing, I pouted a bit as I looked into the window I was hanging in front of. A boy, about nine, stood still in his room as he watched me, wide eyed. Huh.. You'd think he'd actually be fairly freaked out with this sort of thing. There's a freaking girl hanging upside down outside his wind-...

_Upside down..._

I let out a loud 'eek' of surprise as I quickly cross my arms over my chest, holding my shirt back up against my stomach. I glared hard at the kid as I screamed, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"

Ed quickly made a step from the house, and gently let go of me as I caught myself. Landing on the step, I looked over at Armstrong to see Frank Archer standing there as well. "What do you wanna do with him?! He's an innocent kid, he's totally lost his memory!" Ed shouted as we both landed on the bottom step he created.

Archer threw the kid over his shoulder as he said, "This kid may be a material witness to everything that happened in Lab Five. He's coming to South Headquarters for questions."

"What kind of answers could you possibly get from a guy who doesn't even know or remember his name?!" I exclaimed, glaring at them. Leave it up to Archer to do something like this.

Archer sent me a cold look before smirking, "Fortunately, we've found an appropriate substitute as far as his identity goes..." He trailed off as he grabbed the kid's ankle and held it up. On the bottom of his foot, was the Ouroboros mark. Our eyes widened.

"That mark.. It's what the Homunculi have," Al stated.

"Give me a few good hours with him and he'll lead us to the ones who destroyed Lab Five," Archer said, before the two turned and headed away. I paused in my anger; If this kid was a Homunculus... Maybe Archer could be lead to the other Homunculi...

_I came to a dead stop when I saw a payphone booth open, and a uniform clad body on the ground next to it. My eyes widened._

_Maes..._

_Maes Hughes was dead._

I couldn't believe it, but.. Was I siding with Frank Archer? And if so, doesn't that make me the same despicable military officials my parents hated?

That's it. I'm getting too deep. Archer's an ass, we kick it, we save the day. Problem solved.

By the time I had come to the conclusion that I would just ignore my deeper thoughts, Al and Ed were talking with Armstrong. "Say we do investigate. And say we find some way to prove that those are indeed your limbs. Then what?" He had a point. Ed and Al's eyes widened, as if struck by a bat. "What would you do, Ed? Would you tear them from his body and sew them on yourself?"

Ed let out a small disappointed sigh. "Of course not," He muttered in response.

"Then you're better off never knowing the truth," Armstrong stated. And, I completely agreed.

. . .

"What did you boys do to him?" Izumi asked. She stood in the kid's room as Ed and Al stood behind her. Winry, Hannah, Sid and I stood in the hall, looking in through the giant hole in the wall.

I of course had to resist the, "Lovely what you've done with the place," comment.

"We didn't do anything," Ed replied.

Al stepped forward. "Why are you making such a big fuss over him anyway, Teacher?" Izumi turned a bit, glaring at him. I paused; That was harsher than even the looks she gave me. "Maybe it's the best thing for him. They might be able to track down his identity and besides.. He's not human," Al continued. Izumi's hand twitched at this. I glanced to the others. Winry and Hannah seemed surprised, while Sig's eyes twitched. Al continued about the homunculi, but I had tuned him out. Izumi and Sig, they both acted odd when it came to this kid. I mean, I didn't see how they acted when the kid first arrived, so I wouldn't know if that had just gotten attached overtime. But, Hannah and Winry are saps. Huge saps. If anyone got attached, it'd be these two. And they acted a lot differently than Izumi and Sid.

Something was up.

I tuned back in and saw Izumi walk up to Al, and shove him. "Do you have the slightest idea how a Homunculus is brought into this world, Alphonse?" Izumi asked.

"Take it easy..," I heard Winry mumble.

"Do you take me for a fool?" She spat at him. "That I'd be so blind as to not realize exactly what this child is?" Ed's eyes widened in surprise, but Al hadn't faltered. It was silent for a moment, until Izumi kneeled over, coughing up blood. The others exclaimed her name as Sig rushed to her side, picking her up. He turned, running out of the room. I looked over, watching him run down the hall. Something was definitely up.

. . .

"So she's been sick all this time?" Winry asked. We all sat in a hall, just outside Izumi's room at the hospital. I was sitting far from them, thinking quietly to myself.

"Yeah.. She always comes off so strong, sometimes we forget..," Al replied.

Hannah looked over at me curiously as the brothers and Winry talked. "Riley.. Ever since you got here, you've been pretty quiet.. What could you possibly be thinking about?"

I sighed, glancing to the side of my eye at her. "Honestly?" When she nodded(After some hesitation of course), I shook my hood, "I think I know something about Izumi they don't."

"What..?" Hannah murmured.

I bit my lip; Should I even bothered telling them? "Hannah, could you get Winry out of here for a minute? I need to talk to Ed and Al..."

Hannah paused but nodded and looked up at Winry. Offering to get everyone drinks, she dragged Winry with her for some extra hands. Ed blinked, watching them leave. I sighed and they looked over at me, so I lowered my hand from my chin, crossing my arms, "I think Izumi attempted Human Transmutation..."

Their eyes widened. "What?!" Al exclaimed.

Ed was silent at first, but quickly retorted with, "And what lead you to _that_?"

I looked up at the ceiling, thinking it over. "Think about it.. This kid, he's a homunculus. Don't you think Izumi and Sig took him pretty quick? They reacted strange when Al said that kid wasn't human.. They both seemed to take it pretty hard.. Izumi... I'll go so far as to bet on it that she's missing an organ. And you know how human transmutation works..," I trailed over, nodding to Ed's limbs.

They both fell silent. As they mulled it over in surprise, Winry and Hannah came back. Winry sighed, sitting down. Seeing Ed and Al's faces, she asked, "Maybe we could take her to a hospital in Central..?"

"I'm afraid that'd do no good.." We all looked over to the voice to see the doctor.

Winry shook her head. "No offense doctor, but city hospitals have more equipment-"

"He means her illness isn't curable..," Ed trailed off, still thinking about what I had mentioned. Sure, I felt bad, but they needed to know...

. . .

The others and I stood in a doctor's office. Izumi and Sig were still in Izumi's room. "All of her internal organs, from here to here," The doctor motioned to, basically, below the dummy's stomach, "Are missing."

"Missing..? How?" Winry whispered. Hannah's eyes widened in shock.

"It looks as though somehow they were just taken away. Amazingly, her other organs adapted to picking up the slack. But still, I-I don't know how she survived this long."

Al paused and looked back to Ed. "Brother.. Do you think Riley's right?"

Ed, who was facing away from everyone, instantly replied with, "You heard what the doctor said.. Like they were just.. Taken away."

"So... She tried to do the same thing that we did..," Al mumbled.

I sighed, quiet, when the nurse ran in, swinging the door open. "Doctor?"

She then proceeded to show us an empty room. Izumi had escaped. How exciting.

. . .

Winry, Hannah and I ran after Ed and Al, when we reached Southern Headquarters. Ed and Al looked to Sig, before looking at the building. Stone pillars shot outward, making it look nothing more than deformed trees. They quickly ran inside as we reached Sig. Sighing, I took off my backpack(bringing Maes' blades in my pockets with the intention of actually never using them), and ran after them. "Riley, wait! It's too dangerous!" Hannah exclaimed.

Of course, I ignored her.

I began to reach the doors of Headquarters, when explosions occurred to the side. I stopped in my tracks, knowing exactly what kind of explosions they were.

Sulfur.. Curious, I ran around the building. Rubble laid everywhere, and dust began to settle.

I covered my mouth as I wandered through it all, and finally came to the hole. Peering inside, I saw a man with black hair, and the same Chimera I saw back at the town. Glaring at them, I clapped and placed my hands on a rock. It began to heat up as I threw it at them. Just as it exploded, the man and Chimera turned, sensing it, and dodged just in time.

The man chuckled, "Well well, looks like there's another pyro around here." He finally turned around fully and my eyes widened as my breath got caught.

"Zolf J. Kimblee..," I mumbled under my breath.

There in front of me.. Was the man that killed my parents.

* * *

OHMAHGAW. I am SO excited about writing the next chapter! 8D I love the Riley/Kimblee hate.(I also like Kimblee. Therefore it's fun to write him more. X3)

So stay tuned for the next chapter.. (Imitates Kent Williams.)

_THE RILEY, KIMBLEE SHOWDOWN!!_

Teehee.

Stay Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	26. Iwakāluakūmāeono! That's 26!

Merry Christmas! I hope everybody had a lovely time, whether they celebrate it or not. I had a great Christmas. x3

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Cwizumi**: xD She tries to kick his ass, that I can say for sure. Welcome to the story! XP Thanks! I'm glad you like that.

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o.o Wow. I'll definitely remember now.  
MWAHAHA! Chuu has update nao.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

If you don't know by _now_, I shall tell you a twenty-sixth time. I NO OWN FMA. YOU NO OWN RILEY.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**_  
The Two Pyros at Work_

_A man with long black waist length hair stood tall, glaring at the state alchemists that approached him. My father, and a State that I couldn't see very well yet. A younger Scar stood behind my father with tan skin, and red eyes. "Why do you insist on protecting these creatures?" The State asked, smirking. He had pale skin and black hair, much like my father, but he was shorter than my father. Kimblee._

"_Because the Military won't," My father replied coldly, causing Kimblee to chuckle._

_Soon after, a woman almost as tall as my father came to my father's side. She was my mother. "Go, boy," Father said bluntly. _

_Scar paused, shaking his head. Whether it was loyalty, or determination to fight, I don't know. "We must go!" An elder said to Scar, dragging him away quickly._

_Kimblee only chuckled again as he rose his palms._

I stared at the man in front of me. I felt almost paralyzed where I stood. My hands stung a little, and I realized I was so scared and angry that the circles in my hands were starting to react.

Kimblee smirked as he examined me. "Didn't your parents tell you not to mess with explosives, kid?"

I didn't reply. I didn't know if I could. In my head, I could see myself ripping him limb for limb, but in reality, I was pretty much frozen. "Looks like she's scared..," The Chimera said, snickering.

That seemed to snap me out of it! Heh..

Glaring at the Chimera, I looked back at Kimblee. "What do you want here?" I asked.

"Nothing you need to know about," He replied before turning. Ignoring me. Flicking me off. _Pissing_ me off.

He began walking off. "The hell I don't!" I shouted as I ran forward. I wasn't sure what I would do yet, but I figured I'd come up with it when I got there.

He turned just as I sent my fist to his head. He grabbed a hold of my wrist and I yanked my arm backward as I sent my leg forward. He backed away so I stood back up fully. "Huh.. That seemed familiar," He muttered under his breath.

Shrugging, he came at me. I grabbed a chair, holding it in front of me as he reached forward. His hand wrapped around one of the front legs of the chair and exploded the chair. I stumbled back and he smirked as he lunged forward, grabbing hold of my wrist and neck. My eyes widened as I spun my arm back to my side, slipping it out of his hand. Once I did, I grabbed hold of his wrist around my neck and turned, kicking him in the face. The kick was deflected as he blocked with his free hand, and grabbed hold of my leg. I then felt my leg heating up.

Typically not a good sign.

I yelled out in pain as a small explosion occurred, ripping my skin at the place he held my leg. He let go and I fell backwards, landing on my back. Wincing in pain, I looked up to see Kimblee looking onward in mild surprise. "That should've exploded you completely." I began standing up as his brows furrowed, "Who are you anyway?"

"That isn't important," I growled before running at him again. I knew I shouldn't have, but just the sight of him pissed me off.

Kimblee's eyes narrowed as he blocked my fist, knocking it out of the way. He moved his head to avoid my foot, and kicked me in the stomach. I grunted at the impact and slammed my leg down onto his. Jumping forward, I punched him in the face. He stumbled back, rubbing his cheek as he looked down at me. "That fighting style..."

He ran forward and went to punch me, which I blocked with my arm. Instantly, he kicked at my side and I blocked that as well, jumping over his leg. He swung his arm at my head and I ducked, grabbing his arm as I did. Elbowing him in the stomach, I swung him over my shoulder.

Landing on his feet, he turned, hands outward as he tried grabbing my neck again. I hit one of his hands out of the way as I ran forward, smacking his at his jacket. He jumped back, causing my hand to skim the outer rim of his jacket. It exploded shortly after and he stumbled back. His eyes widened at first, but they quickly narrowed as a smirk formed on his face.

His shoulders shook from chuckling and I glared at him. What was he getting at?

"Riley Mauler..," He said, smirk still evident on his face.

My blood froze. This asshole knew my actual name?

"Your parents were those idiots leading the Rebellion Army," He said, putting his hands back in his pockets. I glared, causing him to smirk wider. "So I'm right."

"Shut up..."

Kimblee chuckled again, "You're just as annoying as they were..."

Snapping, I ran at him. "Shut up!" I shouted. I threw a punch and he stepped to the side. As I spun around to continue my attack, he kicked the back of my head. I grunted as I fell forward, and he grabbed my wrist. I felt it heat up and so, I did the same, grabbing his wrist as well.

He smirked as I glared at him. "You're already prepared to be detonated.. You really want to try to stop me like this?" He asked in a taunting voice.

I scowled, my reply instant. "And do you really want to find out who can explode the other faster?"

My arm continued to heat up, but I wouldn't budge. His eyes narrowed; He knew the position he was in. Snatching his arm from me, I kicked at his stomach and he dodged back. A door opened in the hall we were in and an officer ran out of the room to see what was going on. His eyes widened and before he could run to get help, Kimblee grabbed the man's neck, exploding him.

I was about to freeze up, but I wouldn't let myself. I had to finish him off. He exploded the door, and a chunk of the wall was ripped away as well. He raised his leg, kicking the chunk in my direction. Quickly, I clapped, placing my hands on the chunk of the wall just as it reached me. It exploded into several little pieces, and I instantly felt hands around my collar, shoving me into a wall.

Kimblee placed a hand around my neck. "Just like your mother. Acting on impulses.." I felt my neck heating up. I wasn't sure how to get out of this one. Not to mention, I was feeling dizzy from the blow to the head. I snatched his hand away, but was almost too late.

Screaming in pain as a side of my neck was torn, I fell to the ground. I grabbed onto my neck, wincing. I could hear him walk away as my vision blurred out.

"_Riley, damn you, get back here!" Jacob shouted angrily as he chased after me. I was nine._

_Giggling, I stuck my tongue out as I looked back at him, "Why don't you use your handblade to do it?" He glared more as he continued running. I looked at the blade in my hand and mocked surprise, "Oh wait, you ca-" I twitched as I ran into muscled legs. Falling to the ground, I looked up in a pout. Before I could yell at the moron for getting in my way, I smiled wide when I saw Gregory. "Uncle!" I exclaimed, dropping Jacob's blade as I stood and hugged him._

_Jacob was bowing to Gregory, who nodded, "Ease, Jacob." As Jacob stood, Gregory said, "I need to see everyone in the main room. Immediately."_

_Jacob and I fell silent, exchanging glances. "Yes, sir," Jacob nodded and left to get everyone._

_A few minutes later, we were all in the main room, as Gregory had wanted. We all sat in front of him, who stood before us. He sighed. "There is no easy way to put this. As you know, our strongest men and women went to protect Ishbal in the war," Gregory started, "I.. We're pulling out."_

"_What?!" Jacob exclaimed as others' eyes widened. Everyone began to protest to this._

_Gregory glared at them, "Silence!" When everyone quieted down, he sighed, glancing to me and looking away. "We're pulling out because the people in this room are the only ones left of the Rebellion Army."_

_My eyes widened as everyone let out gasps and pleas of surprise. "You're kidding!" A woman, Gregory's age, shouted._

"_...The Maulers have been killed.. Along with the others we sent. We weren't prepared for this war, yet we went in anyway for the sake of protecting people. There are many people left, but none anywhere near the level of the Clairessant and Kevin Mauler... Until we have our strength back, we will pull out from anything we were already in."_

...With Ed and Al...  
(Because isn't switching Point of View FUN?)

Al looked into the last room and turned to Ed. "Brother, it looks like Teacher is gone.."

"Damn it.. She's going to be too weak now to escape from here with that kid. What's she trying to do?" Ed muttered under his breath.

Upon hearing military voices, Ed and Al looked to the sound. "We're not supposed to be here.. Let's go," Al said, glancing at his brother.

Ed scowled. "I can hear Mustang's smug remarks already," He growled before turning and running past Al. They turned down another hall to continue their exist, but both stopped when they saw a familiar body laying on the floor. Ed's eyes widened as he saw Riley laying there, bruised and bloody. "R.. Riley!!" He shouted as he rushed over. Al gasped in shock, following his brother's path.

Plopping to the floor beside her, he examined her, eyes still wide. Her neck and leg both looked burnt, like an explosion tore at the skin. Aside from that, there were minimal scratches. "Brother!" Ed quickly looked over his shoulder at Al, who was holding a small red-colored fabric, ripped edges. "Remember? Kimblee's jacket was torn when he came to us..."

Ed was surprised, as he looked back down to Riley. "That bastard..," He growled out in anger, before picking her up as gently as he could. "Come on, Al.."

...(And then You were Magically Transported Back Into Riley's Mind.)...

I let out a gasp as I sat up quickly, clutching my neck. "Riley! Thank goodness!" Hannah exclaimed, smiling from beside the bed I was in. I looked down to see my leg was bandaged, and I could feel that my neck had some bandage around it as well.

Groaning, I laid back down slowly. "_No moving today, please.._," I thought to myself as I sighed. I looked to Hannah, "What happened after I passed out?"

"Ed and Al found you in the halls," Hannah began to explain as she handed me a painkiller and a cup of water, "They brought you back here."

Instantly, I sat back up and winced as I did so. Damn it, I didn't want to move! "Ed and Al!" I shouted. "Where are they?" I asked as I took the pill.

After a short pause, she sighed. "They went to Yock Island. Izumi's there," She explained.

"I need you to take me there, Hannah," I said, sliding off the bed.

Hannah blinked in surprise. "No way! You're hurt!" She exclaimed as she tried to put me back on the bed. From all the noise, Sig walked in to see what was going on.

As we struggled against each other, I glared at Hannah. "Let me go, I need to get there!"

"They can handle it without you, Riley!"

I fell silent.

A few seconds went by as I stared at Hannah blankly. Hannah opened her mouth to say something, but didn't. Sighing, she shook her head, "I'm sorry Riley.. I didn't mean-"

"What the hell are you on?!" I shouted, glaring at her, "Ed's way of handling something is destroying it! And Al can't handle it cause he's handling Ed! Don't you know that already?!"

Her brow twitched, "Excuse me for saying such things."

I nodded, "Damn right!" I glared up at Sig, "Now get me to Yock Island!"

After hearing the door open, Sig looked over to it and ran out of the room, "Izumi..!"

Twitching, I peered out of the room and saw Izumi, Winry, Ed, and Al. "Just how long was I out?" I muttered under my breath, pouting. So much for that idea.

Hannah smiled in victory. Che...

"Riley! How are you feeling?" Al asked, noticing me as Sig and Winry helped Izumi to her room.

I stood straighter, looking over at him as I walked into the room. "Like crap, thanks," I said simply.

Ed looked over, "What were you thinking going after Kimblee like that?"

I glared at him. "What do you mean 'like that'?!" I asked, pouting. Hannah and Al sighed, and followed Winry into Izumi's room.

"I mean," Ed started, glaring back, "What were you thinking attacking Kimblee so stupidly? You should've known what he was capable of-"

"I know very well what that bastard is capable of!" I shouted. "It isn't your business who I go after and who I don't go after!"

He shook his head, "It is my business when you're with Al and me!"

"That's bullshit!" I shouted. We both glared at each other for several seconds. Waiting to see who'd falter. Ed's brow twitched and I winced from my neck wound, but neither of us would let ourselves lose.

Winry walked out to check on us and her brow twitched seeing our situation. "Would you two just shut up and act like civilized adults for once?! You're being butt-heads!" She exclaimed in annoyance, before stomping back into Izumi's room with a pout. How civilized of her.

We sighed, knowing that even though she herself was acting childishly, she was still right. "You can lecture me all you want, that doesn't change the fact I went after Kimblee. And if I see him again, I will agai-"

"Why is he so important?" Ed asked.

I twitched at the fact I was being interrupted, but I shook my head. "He's the reason the Rebellion Army fell," I replied simply. Whether or not he'd get it from that, I didn't really care. I just wanted to go lay back down until we left. "So, what happened in Southern Headquarters, and on Yock Island?" He gave a quick explanation about Southern Headquarters, then how he and Al fought that kid on Yock Island, but Izumi stopped them. The Furher and his secretary were there. I thought that was odd. Why is it the Furher kept showing up? Isn't that just too coincidental?

Sighing, I nodded and we both entered Izumi's room.

. . .

"It's a shame, when a teacher is as misguided as her students," Izumi said calmly. She sat in her bed, holding onto the covers as we all stood around her. "Ed, Al..," Izumi started, looking up at them, "Despite my sins, I have to draw the line. You can no longer study under me." Ed and Al gasped, eyes widening. "I didn't teach you alchemy so you could echo my mistakes. Destroy your bodies, disrupt the world's flow. I won't stand for your fighting either."

"But, Teach-" Al was stopped when Ed put his arm in front of him.

I glanced over at Ed to see him looking downward, bangs covering his face. He lowered his shaking fist back to his side. "We appreciate all you've taught us. Please, take care of yourself."

Shortly after, we headed out. Ed and Al hadn't muttered a word after we did. We walked down the street, with Sig behind us. "Come on guys, this can't be the end. Are you sure you want to leave on bad terms like this?" Winry asked, looking to the backs of Ed and Al.

They didn't respond, and I sighed. "It's pointless, Winry," I mumbled to her. She looked over at me as though she was going to disagree, but looked down, knowing I was right. Because, I am always right...

..Well, usually.

...

. . .

"Take care, Sig," Ed said, looking up at said man. He stood in front of us as we stood in front of the train, ready to leave. People walked by, boarding their train.

"Goodbye, you two. Make sure to stop by next time you're here," He replied.

Now I'm confused. And, it looked like everyone was.

"But..," Al started.

"I don't think we're exactly welcome," Ed finished for him. They looked at each other and smiled nervously.

"Idiots!" Sig commented, causing the two to flinch and look back at him. I smirked at the sight. "Now that you boys are no longer Izumi's students, you're free to start a real relationship with her," He explained, "As equals."

Winry smiled, "That's right!" The brothers looked over at her and she continued, "You don't have to feel constrained anymore. She can be your friend now."

Ed looked at her a bit before scratching his head, "Aah damn it, Al we can't leave yet!"

He took off running back the way we came and Al paused before following, "Oh.. Kay."

"Just watch your head," Sig said before they left fully.

. . .

Sig, Mason, Winry, Hannah and I all listened through the brick wall to hear Izumi and the Elrics.

.. Sig, Mason, Winry and Hannah all listened through the brick wall to hear Izumi and the Elrics. I was dozing off. Apparently the painkiller Hannah gave me was starting to make me feel drowsy. Very drowsy. I could hear Izumi's voice every so often, but other than that, I was pretty much out of it.

"Wake up, Riley," Hannah growled, hitting my shoulder.

I groaned, jerking awake. "Whaaa...?"

"Izumi gave in!" She whispered.

I tried to smile, but was unable to control my mouth. "Tha.. greeaa..."

Sighing, Hannah shook her head and turned back to spying. I tried listening, but it all made no sense. "Equivalency... Tell me, do you believe," I furrowed my brows as Izumi's voice started to fade out.

"Of course he does!" Al exclaimed before rambling about something I didn't understand. Sounded like he was talking about money. I wasn't sure.

"You do a great job reciting it," I heard Izumi say. Then I thought they were talking about a play or something. God, that painkiller worked wonders.

Suddenly I heard Mason let out a yell of shock, and I winced, jumping at the loud noise. "Y-Yes?!" He shouted, jumping up to look into the window.

"Show them the way to Dante's house," Izumi said, "They're heading there tomorrow to pick up my medicine."

Medicine.. Maybe I needed some, too. ...Or had I already taken some?

. . .

"Uuuugh... I'm never taking medication again," I grumbled as I stuck my head out from under my pillow. I was, once again, in the same bed in Izumi's house. Slowly, I stood and yawned, feeling better than I did yesterday. Upon remembering the talk Izumi and the brothers had last night, I stepped out of the room to ask someone what play Al was in all of a sudden. Winry and Hannah were sitting in the main room, reading. "Guys..?" I asked, walking in.

The two looked over and Hannah smiled, "Glad you're up. What is it?"

"What the _hell_ did Izumi say to Ed and Al last night?" I asked.

Hannah almost fell out of her chair from the surprise of the question. Sighing, she said, "She sent Mason to show them the way to a woman named Dante, who has her medicine. According to Izumi, Ed and Al would learn about something from her."

"I see..," I mumbled, sitting down as I tried to figure out how on earth I managed to get, 'Al's in a play' from, 'Get my medicine from Dante'.

I hate drugs.

Sighing, I stood, "Well, where's Mason?"

"He's outsi.. No, Riley, you're still healing from your wounds," Hannah whined.

My expression deadpan, I looked over at her, "I'll be fine, Hannah." She didn't look too convinced, but I went out anyway. "Oi, Mason! Come on!"

. . .

I let out a small whine as I walked up the hill. "I hate this... Ed better be grateful when I get up there..," I grumbled under my breath, glaring ahead. My leg had started to sting a bit, but so did my headache. Getting closer to the top, I smelled a burnt smell. I stopped, on alert as I looked around. The last time I smelled that, was when I fought Kimblee...

Ugh...

As I could see the top of the mansion in sight, I ran toward it. The smell got stronger as I reached the place, and saw Ed on the ground. On one side of him, stood Kimblee. On the other, someone I hadn't seen before. He was taller than Kimblee, and wore pretty much leather of everything. He was buff, dark hair spiked back. I then looked to Ed as I hid behind a tree. I couldn't see burns or scrapes on him, just a bruise on his cheek and some blood.

There was no way Kimblee could do that, so it had to have been that other guy. And, if he managed to knock Ed out with one punch, he was a lot more buff than I thought. Letting out a silent sigh, I planned my first move. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much if Kimblee were behind me, but the same most likely went the other way around as well. I could go after both in a larger attack, but that'd put Ed in dang-

Ah screw it, he's too small for my attacks to hit anyway.

...Then again, it might do some damage to Dante's place.

Okay, that plan's a no-go. Finally, I decided. I was going to run out and do my thing on instinct... Twitching, I shook my head. Maybe not the best idea either. At the sign of Ed moving, I quieted my thoughts and watched on. The big guy smirked, "It'd be a pain in the ass if you followed us.." He walked to Ed and picked him up by the collar. "Why don't I just break your legs now then?"

Looks like I had no more time to plan. Sighing, I grabbed a rock and threw it at the big guy. It exploded when it rammed into his head and his brow twitched as he stepped back from the surprise, dropping Ed also. He glared over at Kimblee, "What was _that_ for?"

Kimblee smirked, glancing over to the trees, "That wasn't me." He tossed a handful of rocks toward the tree, and they all exploded. From the impact, trees and bushes fell over, but I wasn't in sight. His eyes narrowed as he turned forward, looking around. Big Guy did as well.

I came from behind Kimblee, slamming my hand into one side of his neck. He stumbled over and turned to hit me, but I kicked his leg in and he began to fall backwards. Glaring at him, I shoved my elbow in his face and he quickly grabbed hold of my elbow, regaining his balance. He went to punch me, but was stopped by Big Guy, who grabbed hold of Kimblee's wrist.

Kimblee scowled, but let go, stepping out of the way as I looked to Big Guy. He was smirking. "Kimblee's informed me about you..," He said, walking forward. "What's a Mauler doing protecting a Military dog?" He asked, bending down to my face.

My brow twitched as I resisted the urge to reply with, 'Bite me.' I was afraid he probably would.

"So which homunculus are you?" I asked, glaring up at him.

He blinked a couple times and smirked again. "You're a quick one, aren't you?" He held out one hand to shake, the other hand still in his pocket. "Call me Greed."

As much as I wanted to react and just punch him, I knew I shouldn't. Obviously he was strong, and punching him wouldn't do much good. Yet. "I'd rather not," I growled out.

He ignored it as he threw an arm around my shoulder, "Now why don't you get rid of that one and join us? We could use a Mauler on our side."

Twitching at this guy's antics, I couldn't take it anymore. Finally, I kicked at his legs but he only smirked as he held his leg up, missing my foot. "That's too bad," He said before moving his leg sideways, shoving it into my stomach. My breath lost me as I doubled over in pain. I glared up at him to see he was looking in the window of the place. A few seconds later, he looked to Kimblee. "Let's get out of here."

As Greed walked away, Kimblee glanced down at me and smirked as he followed. "W-Wait!" I looked over to see Ed on his knees. I sighed as I watched them leave. Ed wasn't in the shape to fight, and I definitely couldn't with Kimblee and Greed both attacking. We'd have to get them another day.

* * *

**Be Responsible********.********Don't Flame and Drive****! ****_Rawr_****.**


	27. Sattaais! That's 27!

Merry All-The-Holidays-That-Have-Passed! This is my longest chapter yet!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**YumiXjaganshi**: Hehe, why thank you! And welcome to the story. XD

**Dragon of Twilight**: Ed will find out as soon as they stop bickering. Trust me.(About the finding out. Who knows when they stop bickering. xP)

**Point Counterpoint**: We've talked.

**Coliana**: Glad you like it!

**PixieStixys**: Epic Battles FTW. Mwahaha, such a wonderful ability. AND HEY. I wanted skittles.

**AnonymousGirl18**: Hiii! Your username is on auto-suggest on OpenOffice. Just thought I'd share that with you.

It is long, isn't it? But hey, I like long titles. They're confusing and complicated.

Aaaaaaaand. I DO have a picture of Riley. Someone else asked for it as well. Take note, it's a rough draft I conjured up one boring day, but it's what she looks like so oh well. Link is:  
http ://i775. Photobucket. c o m/ albums/ yy33/ GnarlyNeon/ Riley. jpg (Without all the spaces of course.)

Pigs, pills, what's really the difference? 8D

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73**: An entire day passed. XD

**cwizumi**: Aw, yay, I gave a present! Yes. As long as Riley wasn't blown up, all is well with the world.

Yeah, I thought about making her condition even worse, but I figured some burns would be suitable considering the next chapter.

Hope you had a great Christmas too!

**Lani99**: NOOO! NOT ELECTROCUTION! Yes, action FTW. AAAAAND.(Ooh, all caps this time.) The romance thing will be advanced in the next few chapters(Kukuku.. I has idea.)

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

God, you people. I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. GET IT INTO YOUR HEADS. I do own Riley, however. And Blackburn. And the two dead guys at the end of the chapter. Hehe.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**_  
Death._

Ed and I had split up, running around town all day. Ed didn't bother saying a word to me since we left Dante's and I didn't want to deal with him. It turns out while Greed fought us, his buddies were kidnapping Al. And apparently, Ed couldn't help but feel angry with _me_ because _I_ didn't go after them. Which, in turn, made me angry with Ed. Hence, we haven't said a word to each other since we left Dante's. I knew he was just in a pissy mood because Greed beat him and he couldn't go after Al, but he didn't have to take it out on me. I lasted longer than he did with Greed. Then again, I didn't really fight Greed. He just kind of.. Knocked me over. And thinking about it put me in a pissy mood because compared to his "ability", our attacks were meaningless.

Sighing, I turned a corner to see the military standing in front of a pub called Devil's Nest. And, where there's military, there's probably Homunculus. So, I began scanning the area. There was another shop beside the Devil's Nest so I went into it, sneaking behind the Military officers. Looking around the room, I saw no one around. Good. I walked to the far wall and clapped, placing a hand on the wall.

And boom.

I really needed to start working on more quiet sources of entrance.

I ran through the hole in the wall and wound up in a bathroom in Devil's Nest. Sighing, I clapped and placed my hands on the floor. A low blue flame started on the floor around my hands, and the floor began to melt. I stepped away as the burning sulfur did it's job.

Looking through the hole, I saw a droplet of melted tile land onto the shoulder of, who I assumed to be Greed. He looked like Greed, save for the fact his skin was a dark blue. Stone-like. It was weird, but I couldn't just stand around to think about it at the time. He was about to punch Ed when he noticed it as well. "Hm?" He stopped, looking up to see the hole, and me standing beside it. He smirked, "You again, too, huh?"

Ed looked up, seeing me also. "Riley, get out of here!" He shouted up at me. Like he thought I actually would leave or something. Hah.

Glaring at him, I snapped, "Shut the hell up, Pipsqueak!" His brow twitched as he glared at me. I looked back at Greed and jumped down at him. He dodged backwards and I ran toward him once I landed. I kicked at him, and he stepped back to avoid it.

Ed darted passed me, handblade ready. I glared at him as he attacked at Greed. Greed reacted the same as he did with me, jumping back to dodge.

"Greed!" Everyone looked over to the doors to see a man standing there. "The military! They're he-" A bullet was sent through his head, and he fell to the ground, limp.

Two of the men rushed over to the door in alarm, slamming it shut. As one barricaded it, the other(Almost dog-like in appearance) looked back to Greed. "So what should we do now?"

"Well dammit," Greed muttered as he place one hand on his hip, the other in the air, "Those bastards ruined our fight!"

I would have found this slightly homosexual position and casual wording funny, if not for the fact he was our enemy, and he was _dark blue_.

The one who asked Greed the question in the first place gave said man a deadpan look as he sweat a bit. "Well hell Boss, don't sound worried or anything..." When banging was heard on the doors behind them, they turned and stepped back toward us.

"Don't worry boys. There's nobody in the military who can do us harm," Greed explained. An explosion occurred behind us and I immediately stiffened. It wasn't hard figuring out who it was. Ed and Greed turned to see who, but I didn't. I couldn't. I would've attacked if I did. "Kimblee...," Greed mumbled in surprise, only confirming my fear.

Ed gasped, so I knew I'd have to turn around. When I did, I saw no one other than Frank Archer standing beside Kimblee, holding a lumpy bag. Upon seeing the bag as well, Greed's eyes widened and his blue skin quickly changed back to a more normal skintone. "Bastard.. You've betrayed us, haven't you?" He asked in shock.

Kimblee only smirked in response. Another explosion happened and turning to see what that was, I saw a much bigger man, with white hair and armor on his arm, looking back at Greed and gang. "It's time to move!"

The others rushed to the new opening. Except for Greed. I looked over at him and almost... Almost felt bad. The look on his face was pure betrayal. Pure shock. "Greed, let's go," One man growled, grabbing the Homoncolus by the arm.

"No, wait!" Ed shouted, stepping forward once he spotted Al being picked up.

Before Ed could get anywhere, one of the men, the canine-like one, punched him in the face. He smirked down at Ed, "Sorry kid. It's been fun."

He turned and headed out with the others in his group. Ed glared, his cheek bruised, as he stood, "You're not going anywhere..." As he got back to his knees, three soldiers stepped in front of us with firm looks. Ed fully stood. "What is this?!"

"Please don't resist."

As Ed began to protest, I growled. I knew what these men wanted. They were with Archer, it was obvious. And Archer was with Kimblee. No way in hell was I going to sit around to be lead into the same room with _him_. So, I took off. A much more responsible thing, don't you think? "H-Hey!" One of the soldiers shouted, turning to grab me. I bent forward, swinging my arm around to knock the gun from his hands. I then shoved my leg into his stomach. He fell and as other soldiers ran over, I slipped through and ran for the hole. The last thing I heard was Ed calling my name.

. . .

I ran down the sewer "side-walk", looking for any one of them. I didn't care if Greed was so-called invincible. He now hated Kimblee, therefore he was tolerable in my dictionary. I just had to find them. Hearing shooting up ahead, I knew I was nearby. I neared a turn when I saw a soldier have a sword smash him in the head. As the impact sent him into the water, I quickly held my breath as I shoved myself against the wall, hoping the wielder of the weapon wouldn't turn down the "side-walk".

"Greed. Move!" A bold voice shouted, following by Greed's meek toned reply. Then footsteps.

I could hear the wielder still fighting with soldiers, so I knew it was then or never. Holding my breath, I took off around the corner and slid around a soldier who fell to the ground. Charging in the direction of who I saw to be Doggy-Boy, I used the soldier he was fighting as a cover. They did a one-eighty as the soldier tried dodging a move, so I took that as an opportunity to run for the next turn. I heard Doggy-Boy shouting, "Hey, kid!" But seeing as he didn't run after me, I paid little mind to it.

Running at a far enough distance that they wouldn't pay attention to my footsteps was hard, but doable. Until I tripped and landed face first on the concrete. That wasn't pleasant. Growling, I rubbed the now red and uncovered skin on my forehead as I stood back up. What a great stalker I was, tripping all over the place. I began to follow again, when an explosion stopped my targets in their tracks. I almost stumbled over trying to stop, but managed to do so and hide myself behind a wall. Rocks flew about, and as dust was settled, Armstrong was revealed.

Joy to the world. He should be more concerned about _Zolf Kimblee_ working with that scumbag Archer than these rip-off criminals. This was a matter between Elrics(And me, of course. Don't forget me.) and Greed. Not the Military.

As I thought about all this, he was giving an introduction and history lesson. Once he finished, Al looked up at him, "Major!"

The big white-haired man placed Al down onto the ground and stepped forward bravely. These guys sure were loyal... "My demands are simple," Armstrong started, "You give Alphonse Elric to me."

The two began to fight, hand in hand and leg for leg. "_Dear God, they're like sparring buddies!_" I thought to myself sadly. And it was true. They fought as if they knew each other's styles. They were evenly matched. Greed and the others sat back to watch, which I was a tad grateful for. Getting passed Armstrong and Big Guy would be harder than the last pair. The two stood apart finally, and Big Guy mentioned being in the Ishbalin War. He knew about Armstrong, which explained the fighting. "So you're a comrad. I can't kill you, then. Surrender now and you shall live." While Armstrong's thinking was noble, it made me sick thinking about Kimblee. What if he had to fight Kimblee? Would he let him leave just because they were in a war together? That vile man?... Was this the thinking I used to look up to?

My thoughts were broken by a voice, "It's us, Major. Step aside. We'll take them!" I looked back to see a few soldiers, guns aimed at the group.

"Come now, don't waste your lives," Armstrong said.

Greed sighed in annoyance and then smirked, "Alright. I'll gladly take that advice. But pass a message to Kimblee and Tucker will you? Tell them both they've just wasted theirs." Big Guy stood and with a grunt and a punch, sent rocks, water and dust flying everywhere.

Dammit.

When the dust died down, rocks had been piled to block Armstrong from them. Luckily I was still on their side. I wasn't going to attack then. Not when they were still on guard, when their adrenaline was still pumping.

. . .

I waited outside. In the woods. Behind a tree. Staring at a shack. Greed, Dog Boy, Big Guy, and Al were all inside. Doing what, I didn't know. But, I waited outside and at a distance, looking into the windows to see as much as possible. Greed was smoking and looking pissed(And quite frankly, I didn't blame him. Two betrayals and some others died. That doesn't exactly call for wine and music.) Suddenly Greed looked startled. But about what?! Damn it...

Finally, I saw it. Lust and Gluttony stood at a doorway. The two shared some words, which I knew were intense, when Dog Boy unsheathed his sword. Turning around, he sliced Al's chains. My eyes widened in surprise. They shared words with Al and turned back to Lust and Gluttony. They stepped in front of Greed and more words were spoken. During their conversation, Greed looked surprised, almost touched in a weird, psychopathic criminal kind of way. He looked reluctant, and when Dog Boy shouted something at him, he finally took off out of the shack, along with Al. I may not have been able to hear them, but I had a pretty good idea of what happened.

And... I actually didn't want to fight Greed. Not because of his or my abilities.. I just didn't want to.

In a way, I wanted to barge into that shack and save- Wait, why couldn't I? That would be not only fun and interesting, but clear this "Greed-May-Not-Be-So-Bad-I-Can't-Kill-Him-Now" thing I had going on all of a sudden. It would be payback. Make us even. So I _could_ kill him.

Letting out a sigh, I grumbled to myself, "Oh what the hell..." And so, I ran around to the entrance of the shack. I couldn't stay long as I wasn't going to let Al leave my sight; But I couldn't just let these two men die after acting so stupidly. Or bravely. Whichever came first. I would just simply... Give the first attack and let the other two warm-up. Then I'd leave to find Al(Okay. I'll be honest. I wanted revenge for the 'Almost Being Eaten' thing.) I opened the door to see the two men charging at Lust. Bad idea. She smirked and raised her hand. I knew it was then or never. Running forward was like a race with her nails. A battle with time and speed.

I clapped my hands together and leaped forward, grabbing her nail closest to me, and shoving it into the other nail. I slammed them both to the ground and she screamed as I melted the wood and, basically, glued her to the floor. Smirking, I looked up at her and charged. This was going to feel good. "This is for the last time we met, bitch!" I shouted, socking her right in the eye. She let out a yelp as her nails were pried from the floor by the impact. Hearing Gluttony come at me, I spun around, kicking him on the chin. "THAT'S FOR TRYING TO EAT ME, YOU SICK-O!" I screamed, panting as he stumbled backward.

Knowing I had used up enough time, I looked over my shoulder at the two men. They stood, blank looks on their faces as they blinked simply. I pointed to Lust and Gluttony, "I'll, um... Let you two finish this up then." What that said, I ran out of there to find Greed and Al. Maybe I acted a bit.. Impulsively.

I took off in the direction they headed quickly. If I wanted to catch up to them, I'd need to be fast about it. _This way I would be able to rub it in Ed's face about being more responsible_. I came to a clearing within a few minutes, and saw Greed and Al standing there. Hiding behind I tree, I listened in. "Hey, Marta. Stay in that can until morning. If I'm not back by then, you're on your own. Just make sure you have some fun. Okay?"

"Greed," I heard a female voice from Al, "What are you gonna do?"

He smirked, "Can't get into it, doll." He looked around them and cleared his voice, "Oh, kid?" My shoulders stiffened. He knew?! Pouting, I peered around the tree, glaring at him all the while. "Take care of these two while I'm gone." Al seemed surprised I was there, but as Greed turned to walk off, he protested about Greed leaving.

It was then the Marta and Al battle ensued. It was a fierce one, one unlike any other. The fight to behead Al was on. I sighed, "GUYS!"

The two paused and I shook my head, "Just stay put. I'm going ahead to-"

Suddenly Al's head lifted again to show the woman I assumed was Marta. "No way! If a kid is going, so am I!"

I glared, kicking Al's armor. She grunted and I heard the thud of head-metal contact. "Listen, you! Al's body has been through enough now calm your ass down and wait here! You got that?!" When she said nothing, I smirked and nodded, walking off. I could hear her grumbling about it all, but Al wasn't going to give up so easy.

. . .

I reached Dante's house and looked up at the windows in surprise. Blue light emitted from it. What the... Was Ed already there?! Why he... Thinking about this only pissed me off and as my shoulders shook at the thought of him beating me after _all_ I had done, I charged into the building furiously. Looking around the building, I began running room to room to find where they were. A part of me was actually worried(About Ed or Greed, I wasn't really sure. I think both.)

Finally, I reached the room. My eyes widened when I saw it. The transmutation circle.. Lyra stood at the far end of it, watching as Greed stood in the middle of it, throwing up red stones. Dante's dead body was in a corner. I didn't fully comprehend it at the time, but I knew, after witnessing so much already. I knew. Feeling pissed and anxious and pumped all at the same time, I made my way to the circle. Fists clenched and teeth gritting, I scrapped the toe of my boot over a line of the circle a few times. It made a scratch over the circle, and suddenly the light disappeared. Greed fell to his knees and Lyra's head snapped up at me.

Greed looked over and his eyes widened weakly. "Kid.." I glanced down at him and when we both looked back up, Lyra was gone. I made my way over to Greed to see if he needed help up. God, since when did I want to be buddy-buddy with Greed?(My only possible answer to this was, 'When Kimblee betrayed him.') "You don't look too good," I snorted out sarcastically.

He glared down at me, raising an arm for added effect. "Well what do you expect, Kid?" Shrugging him off casually, I kneeled down to get a better look at the circle, curious about it. He sighed. "Thanks for that, anyway."

I wasn't paying too much attention until I heard footsteps. I looked up to see Ed standing there. He looked at Greed with a glare, and then looked at me and Dante's dead body. He looked back to Greed with an even worse glare. "Explain what happened here!"

Greed smirked and shrugged, "Beats me. I was going to ask you that, Kid."

Ed glared as he walked over. "You did this to her, didn't you?" Greed frowned and turned to face him. I was about to speak up with Ed interrupted, "Are you gonna answer me?" I twitched.

"Blame me if you want," Greed started nonchalantly, "I really don't care."

"How could you? She was helpless," Ed growled.

Deadpan expression on my face, I tried to speak up again. This time, Greed interrupted me. "Tell me, Elric. How could you go so far to protect your little brother?" Oh, that's nice. He interrupted me for something totally irrelevant to the dead chick on the floor.

"And what does that have to do with anything?!" There you go, great Psychic Edward Elric.

Greed smirked. "Feelings can be hard to explain."

"What have you done with Al?!" Ed shouted.

Sighing, I was about to speak up a third time, but no. Another interruption. "If you want him back, come on. You know what it takes." Not only was I now pissed, I was also a bit concerned about exactly what he meant. Ed, still glaring, got into a fighting position. Greed slipped off his jacket and turned dark blue again.

Damn those idiots. If they just listened to someone other than themselves, things would be okay!

The two fought with quick, short movements. I could keep up if I had wanted to. But I'd already see the end result. Why watch it all? From the quick movements, I could see Ed get punched a few times in a row. He tried punching Greed, when the hand on his auto-mail broke. "You still don't understand what you're dealing with do you?" Greed asked him before sending him flying across the room. I flinched. Seeing Ed get his ass kicked by someone I almost felt sympathy for was hard. Ed began to sit up as Greed continued. As he did, I noticed Ed's eyes widen in realization. About what, I wasn't sure, and that's what scared me a bit. "If you want to defeat me..."

"I must be ready to kill. I know," Ed growled out.

"And you think you're ready for that, Kid?" Ed made a quick comment about Winry and the two continued to fight. Greed grabbed Ed by the collar and Ed clapped, placing his hand on Greed's arm. Greed quickly let him go. "Your alchemy's worth nothing when fighting me!" I let a sigh as I slowly began to catch on to what Ed was thinking.

It was unavoidable. I'd witness it... I didn't want to. But I had to. For them both.

Greed sent his fist at Ed, who clapped and defended himself with his own fist. Suddenly Greed's muscles and such showed instead of the rock-hard shell. He stumbled back in surprise. "What is this? What did you do?!"

"It's easy when you realize one thing. There are no unexplainable events." Ed began explaining about the elements of the body and how he did it with manipulating Carbon. Once he was finished, he added, "Now that I know how to use it, this shouldn't be too tough."

I didn't like the tone in Ed's voice at all. Or the chill down my spine. Both sucked right about then.

I watched as Ed preformed another attack and demanded to see Al. Of course, Greed refused. Ed attacked in ways to harm him, but not kill him. It didn't help at all. It only made me more anxious. With every attack, he'd get more angered and more adrenaline pumped. And when Ed transmuted his handblade, I knew. Just by the look in his eye. He wasn't controlling himself as he normally would in a fight. The two charged at each other and began to fight again. I sat by the sidelines, watching silently. I couldn't stop these two rock heads. Ed performed his next alchemical trick and my gut began to wrench. If I was going to try to stop them, it would have to had been then. But it would've been too late. They moved too quick. Ed spun around on his heel and sent his handblade up. My first instinct was to whip my head around and not look. But I was going to. I wouldn't look away.

And I didn't.

My brows furrowed as I saw the blade rip through Greed's chest. His arms fell to his side and as his skin reverted to normal, Ed's blade slipped out. Greed fell to his knees. "A-Al.. Where is he?" Ed asked frantically.

Greed smirked weakly. "In the woods. I let him go," His sentence was cut off by coughing up blood.

I looked to the ground, unable to bare it. Ed's eyes widened, "But I thought..."

"We homunculi," Greed stammered out, "Are born when an alchemist tries to recreate life. We are weakened whenever we are close to the remains of the one the alchemist tried to revive. That's the homunculi's weakpoint. That's how we can be killed, understand? And not come back..."

"But why.. Why are you telling me this?" Ed asked in confusion.

"So you can beat them, Ed," Greed whispered out. Ed's eyes widened once more. "They sealed me for so long. You can't let them stay in control." He smirked, looking up at Ed. "I'm greedy. She always said it would be the death of me." He fell to the ground and upon hearing the thud, I flinched. "I'm counting on you two, Kid..."

It was silent a moment, when I heard Ed's stutter. "Greed, cut it out... This is a joke, right? Stop! Hey.. I thought nothing could kill you! You're the ultimate shield! You're indestructible, right?! I can't kill you!" Hesitant, I glanced up to see Ed grab at his head.

He let out a scream as he fell to his knees(Obviously, making me feel even worse). I walked over to him slowly and silently, lowering to my knees beside him. As Greed faded away, I placed a hand on Ed's back as we both cried.

. . .

"What did she tell you?" Izumi asked softly. Her, Ed, Al and I stood by two graves.

"Nothing. It was over when I got there," Ed replied.

Izumi looked to me. "What happened?" She asked me.

I didn't reply. She knew I wasn't going to. I just stared down at the graves. Thinking. First Maes, then Greed. Kimblee was back, with Archer and Shou Tucker. Archer was a two-bit criminal in military uniform already. Kimblee was going to be back in the military, I knew it. Things were changing. There was going to be a war soon. I could feel it in the air. And I was too scared to think about who would come out of it alive.

. . .

Roy Mustang sat at his desk, finger tapping lightly on it as he stared at the door. Waiting for Breda and Fury to return. His other subordinates sat in a tense silence, worried about him. Riza let out a silent sigh, "Colonel, please, stop worrying. It's just a simple check-in. There are two officers there all the time as it is."

The black haired man didn't turn to look at her as he shook his head, hands in front front of his face. "No, Hawkeye... Nothing is ever simple when it comes to Blackburn."

"What's going on?" Fallman whispered to Havoc, who heaved a sigh.

"Blackburn.. One of Mustang's worst cases. The only thing Mustang could get the guy on was simple stuff. He was put on house arrest, but Mustang's never stopped thinkin' about it."

. . .

Breda knocked on the oak door as he and Fury stood in the rain, waiting for someone to answer. "It's Breda and Fury! Come on guys, open the door! Mustang's impatient as it is!" Breda shouted through the door. He sighed, shaking his head, "What brilliant officers watching over an evil genius..."

The long black haired man, narrow faced and lanky bodied, smirked down at the two dead bodies on the floor of his attic.

"Try and catch me this time, Mustang..."

* * *

LEGASP. Original content! Be prepared peoples. This Blackburn thing is on like Donkey Kong. Blackburn was named after an aircraft, just to keep the spirit of FMA aliiiive! XD Ed and Riley... Legasp.. Get closer.

And now. CHAPTER TRANSLAAAATIOOOONS. (Audience applause.)  
"Fünfundzwanzig!" is German.  
"Iwakāluakūmāeono!" is Hawaiin.  
"Sattaais!" is Nepali.  
I know NOTHING but English, Spanish and Japanese numbers. If I'm wrong with something, let me know!

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	28. Otteogtyve! That's 28!

**The Loveliest Daaaarlings Around!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Sad episode is sad. Dx. Heh, well, more like in the next few chapters.

**AliceInNeverland:** Hehe, thank you! There wasn't much romance for a few reasons. One being the fact there are going to be so many chapters, and compared to that, they need time to get closer. Secondly, I'm just a big realist. No out-of-character stuff. If you pay close attention, you can tell they get closer. And that will build up to the romance part.

**Want to Be my Favorite? Review. Wink, Wink.**

**DUDES**. _Guess what_.

FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood premiered on Adult Swim Saturday! Isn't that gnarly?! I _totally_ got to hear Al's new English voice for the first time. If you didn't see it, you can get it online. Or wait till next Saturday for the next episode(Will only be titled, "FullMetal Alchemist", though.)

**DUDES. **_Guess what again._

I broke my 100,000 word mark with that last chapter. Wewtage. God, I'm _so_ cool.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, or its characters. I _do_ own The Sulfur Alchemist and its original content. DON'T STEAL EITHER.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:  
**_Friendship in Jeopardy_

_Creation. Life. Change. Death. Absorption. Ruining the cycle. Alchemy…_

_Crime. Sin. Hatred. Death. Life. God. Taboo…_

_Water. Blood. Bones. Recreation. Human Transmutation…_

_Regret. Creation. _

_Death._

_The cycle doesn't change. Alchemy is said to ruin a cycle. To erase creation and replace it. Recreate it._

_The cycle is never broken. Creation is never replaced. Recreation isn't a substitute; It is a cycle. A cycle meant to be warped and twisted. A cycle that never dies._

"This is some pretty morbid stuff," Breda grumbled out as he held a small journal in his hands. He wore a dark blue hat, along with a rain coat of the same color over his military uniform. Standing by a copper toned desk, he snapped the journal shut and placed it back onto the desk. The officer looked around the small, dimly lit room in wary and confusion.

His fellow officer, a shorter, thinner and younger man, nodded in agreement as he read the titles of the hundreds of books lining shelves. "Wasn't this supposed to be a simple check-in?" Seeing the redhead nod in reply, Fuery blinked, confused. "Then where are the officers? And Blackburn?"

With a heavy sigh, Breda turned to Fuery. "I don't know, man… But this is starting to creep me out. How long has Blackburn been doing all this research without the officers not realizing it? They're supposed to be on top of this stuff."

At the sound of an explosion from the attic, the two officers' heads snapped up. "Wh-What was that?" Fury stuttered out in alarm.

Shaking his head, Breda headed to the door. "Call for back-up," He quickly told Fuery before he left the room. He headed down the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. He readied himself for anything and by the time he reached the door, he found himself more curious than afraid. Swinging the door open, he saw nothing but smoke. "What the-?!" He covered his mouth as he searched for a light switch without entering the room entirely. Finally finding it, he turned the light on and began waving the smoke away as he walked in. After a few moments, Fuery rushed downstairs, stopping behind Breda as the smoke finally cleared.

"Aw man…," Breda muttered upon seeing the room. Because, in the middle of the room, two dead bodies were sprawled out side-by-side. The officers in charge of Blackburn's house arrest, to be exact. On the far side of the attic, a human-sized gaping hole was revealed through the smoke, which lead out onto the street. Blackburn was nowhere in sight. "Mustang isn't gonna like this," The redhead said grimly. Fuery looked at him in curiosity, but his thoughts would soon be answered when they got back to Headquarters.

**. . .**

"What?!" The black haired Colonel shouted, abruptly coming to his feet. The two officers before him twitched a bit at the volume of his voice. "You mean to tell me two of my officers are dead, and Blackburn is gone?!" He shouted in anger, glaring down at Breda and Fuery.

"I'm sorry Colonel. We were searching the house for them when we heard the explosion," Breda explained a second time, as if it would make matters better.

Fuery quickly nodded, "Which had to have been when Blackburn escaped."

"Really, you think Fuery?!" He shouted, mouth frowned into a growl. Seeing Fuery look downward, Roy sighed. "It's alright. You aren't at fault."

The officer paused and nodded in understanding. "What are we going to do then, Colonel?" Hawkeye asked him.

Roy fell silent. After a few moments, he sighed. "I'm going to take a walk." As he left the office, the others watched him in awkward confusion.

He walked along the side-walk, until he reached a pay-phone. He didn't need fresh air. He needed to make a phone call the military couldn't know about.

. . .

"Miss?" I blinked, looking over to the side of me. I was in the middle of town. Hannah, Winry and I had went ahead of the brothers. Ed and Al were sharing goodbyes with Izumi. The girls were sitting on a bench, talking as I bought a sandwich. Anyway, a man was standing there at a payphone. "Are you Riley Mauler?"

"Um…," I trailed off and nodded, "Yes. Why?"

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's for you. He said his name was Roy."

I stiffened. Mustang was calling me? Why? I glanced to Hannah and Winry to see them laughing about something. Sighing, I walked over and grabbed the phone. "Thanks." He nodded, walking off and I looked to the payphone. "…Hello?"

"Riley," I heard Mustang's voice through the speaker. I could hear noises in the background which sounded like he was outside. A payphone maybe? "I… I have a favor to ask."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Wha? I'd... I'd normally use this to make fun of you, but that's just… Why?"

I heard him sigh. "Radley Blackburn. He's killed hundreds of men using alchemy and used their bodies for research to become a better alchemist… I've hunted him down for years, but he only ended up with house arrest after it all."

I blinked, recognizing the name. "Oh yeah… I wrote an article about him once. So if he's already in custody, why are you calling?"

A slight pause followed. "He's escaped. Killed the two officers that watched over him. Obviously we have officers looking for him, but only in Central. I think he'll be heading back to his hometown, a little north of South City. His home was filled with research far beyond what was discovered in the home he had in Central."

I sighed as I looked around. "And you want us to check it out?"

"I'm well aware of your current situation with the military, Riley. Don't look at it as though it's an order," He muttered into the phone.

Glancing to Hannah and Winry, I saw Ed and Al walking to them. I thought it over. Roy, as annoying as he was, was still a good guy. Thinking about him lead to thinking about Maes. Sighing, I turned to hang up. "I'll try to talk to Ed into it." I hung up before Roy could reply, and headed back to the others. This was going to be a hard task to accomplish.

. . .

I sighed, sitting cross-legged at the edge of a wagon. My knees were the only thing actually holding me up however as my chest was _on_ the edge and my arms hung down, crossing with each other. I was staring at the ground. Counting rocks.

Too many trees.

We were going south toward an Ishbalin refugee camp. Obviously I hadn't asked Ed about Blackburn and Mustang yet. I figured if we were already going South, why not ask once we arrived? That'd be much better. "Are you sure we're on the right road?" Al asked, looking over to his brother who sat on the opposite side of me, closest to the front, on his back as he stared at the sky.

"All I know is, we're heading South. And we're bound to run into the Ishbal camp sooner or later," Ed replied. I had found many flaws with this way of thinking, but I didn't feel like breaking his bubble.

Al looked back down as he mumbled, "Sooner than later, I hope."

"Well what makes you think the Ishbalin refugees will tell you anything about the Philosopher's Stone anyway, Ed?" Winry asked. I was wondering why she was still with us, but remembering Hannah and I just kinda started tagging along, I felt I had no room to talk.

"Cause it's the only lead we've got. We have to take every chance that we have to get closer to the stone." Suddenly Ed gasped and jerked up.

Winry looked over at him in concern, "What is it?"

"I thought… I thought I heard a woman scream just now but-"

Ed was interrupted by a scream so I looked up and glared at him. "You jinxed us, asshole!" Ed glared back at me but we both turned back to see who it was. A girl with short brown hair and a green and yellow dress was running, when she tripped on rock number nine hundred seventy-six. She fell onto other rocks which knocked some closer to us and I twitched in anger. Damn it, I hadn't counted that section!

There were five guys standing in front of her, smiling with creepy intent. I glared at them and saw Ed, who had already jumped off the wagon and rushed forward, bending down to grab a rock. My eyes widened and as I leaped forward to grab it from him, he threw it at the man that had advanced on her. I yelled in protest and Ed, flustered and embarrassed by the contact, shoved me off. "What was that?!"

"I didn't count that section yet!" I shouted, glaring at him.

He glared as well, "That doesn't give you right to-"

"Who the hell do you think you are, short stuff?!" One of the men shouted in anger. The two of us blinked, distracted as we looked back over at them.

I sighed as Ed rammed his foot into the guy's head angrily. The three guys left standing widened their eyes in surprise but quickly got over it and ran toward us. Ed easily took care of them as he was still fuming over the small comment. Speaking of which, I hadn't cracked many… Man, I was going soft.

. . .

We sat around the girl as the driver of the wagon smoked on a rock, and the Creepy Intent guys were tied to a tree. "So you're traveling by yourself to find this Lujon guy?" Winry asked after the girl had told us her story.

She nodded, "Yes."

Al crossed his arms. "You shouldn't have come alone. It can be pretty dangerous out here even if you do have someone along to help you out." I looked over at Ed when I saw some movement from the corner of my eye, to see his eyes following a butterfly around.

I almost burst out laughing, but apparently Hannah had caught sight of this. She quickly elbowed me and I groaned, tuning back into the conversation. "I know," The girl said, "But I had a feeling if I didn't come, I'd never get to see Lujon again and I don't know if I could deal with that!"

"So why'd this Lujon guy leave your village in the first place?" Ed asked simply, unaware of the thoughts I were having about him chasing butterflies.

"A good reason! To search for another Philosopher's Stone," She replied casually, as if talking about the weather.

"Ah yeah, that's nice," Ed said dully as he, Al and Winry all crossed their arms in boredom.

…

Hannah and I glanced at each other, wondering if we heard wrong. Suddenly the three of them jerked up, "The stone?!"

Silence once more. The girl finally sighed. Looking down, she replied simply, "Yes. In order to cure a horrible epidemic in my village, we need the power of the stone."

. . .

Once the story was done, we were getting ready to board the wagon again. "Ed?" I asked hesitantly, "Can I talk to you elsewhere?"

Ed looked suspicious(I'm hurt.) as he nodded and followed me away from the wagon. It was then or never. We'd help Lidia(I had finally learned her name from Hannah), and then go look into Blackburn. Hopefully. "What is it?" He asked.

"We're friends right?" I asked, grinning. He raised a brow, wondering what that had to do with anything, but nodded. "Well, friends do friends favors!"

"No."

My eyes widened as I pointed at him, "You don't even know what I was going to ask!"

He scowled, "It's going to be something I don't want to do. So no."

I sighed, "Fine. Next time you're tied to a chair with your brother and I'm in town, I won't do a thing to help you." His brow twitched, but I continued. "When you need help finding another doctor who supposedly knows about the stone and I happen to be his student, I won't help you."

He glared, "You didn't help us then, Riley."

I pouted, "No, but I helped you a lot you know!"

With an irritated sigh, Ed crossed his arms. "Fine. What is it?"

Pausing, I planned how to word it. "I… There's this criminal… He's a really good alchemist and he's escaped from the military's hands. I was wondering if we could look into it – Before you say no, he might know about the stone!"

He blinked, looking up at me surprised. "Well yeah, why not? If he knows about the stone, we should, right?"

I smiled, "Great…"

We began heading back to the wagon, when he asked the question I worried he'd ask. "Where'd you hear about him anyway?"

I fell silent before replying with, "…A friend."

He stopped in his tracks. Sighing, he looked at me firmly. "Who, Riley?"

"…" I looked away as I rubbed the back of my neck. "…Mustang called me."

Ed's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?" When I didn't respond, he glared, "You're talking with Mustang?!" I let out a sigh, about to speak when he interrupted me, "Have you been talking to him this whole time?!"

Glaring, I replied angrily, "Why would I do that?! They're after me too, you know!"

"Yeah right," He growled, "You're probably just helping them. I never should've trusted a State Alchemist!"

I fell silent. Did he _really_ think I was giving the military information? I glared down at him, "If you really think I'm on the inside at this point, you need your brain checked!"

Shoving passed him, I started to walk. "Where are you going?! I'm not done with this!"

I stopped walking and glared back at him, "I am! I'm done with you altogether! I've risked my ass for you and this is the thanks I get?! Screw you, Elric! I'll look into Blackburn myself!"

Ed didn't reply, so I turned and walked passed the wagon. Hannah glanced over at me, "Riley…?" I didn't respond so she sighed and jumped off the wagon, quickly running after me.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	29. Vingt Neuf! That's 29!

DUDES. I feel bad. This is actually probably sooner than I've updated in a while, but I still feel bad because I already _finished_ this chapter when I posted Twenty-Eight. So I feel bad for that. But at the same time? It feels freaking awesome being able to update without having done anything. So gnarly.

Have you been keeping up with English Brotherhood? How do you like Al's new voice, EH?

**Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**xXKaminari-TsubasaXx:** Very reckless! Makes for great stories. xP And no, it probably isn't a very good idea.

**Ausumist: **Is it wrong to be confused by that too random remark? O.o Ah well. I don't know if you've gotten up-to-date yet, but she isn't as random as she used to be.

**Fmagurl123:** Very awesome indeed. Can't wait for it tonight! And why thank you! I feel flattered. Characters In Character FTW.

**Totally CRAZY and Hyper:** Thankies. I'm glad you like Riley~ 8D And of course! Ed is two parts Hothead and one part metal. He has to over-react sometimes so he won't explode, you see.

**Katsekala:** Glad you like Riley! Romance stuff will be soon. Just not this chapter. They still have to forgive each other(Shifty Eyes Here.) xP

**PixieStixys:** x3 Why thank you, mah dear. I'm very flattered.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

As you should know by now, I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. If I did, I'd use some highly advanced technology and the money I earned from the show and make a machine that creates beams of light and loud sounds every time I clapped my hands together. But alas, I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Therefore, I'll stick with Riley and Hannah. So get your own OCs and plotlines.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:  
**_Oh. Shit._

"That jackass… Thinks _I'd_ betray _him_! HAH! He isn't even that important to betray!" Hannah let out a long sigh as she followed me through the woods. I still hadn't told her what happened, but she knew enough after the hour long rant I was having. "Screw him. Screw him and his brother both! And definitely _Winry_! I'm done with them all!"

"Al isn't that bad though…," Hannah interjected.

I glared at her, "He's related to Ed, that's good enough!" She sighed again and continued to follow me. I was beyond pissed at that point.

"I think Nicole's right," Hannah mumbled under her breath. I stopped. Dead in my tracks.

"_You're just jealous a homewrecker hugged your man_," _Nicole said_.

"**_Your man_**."

Spinning around on my heel, I glared at her. "What?" I hissed.

She nodded, crossing her arms as she looked down her nose at me. "You like Ed. That's why you're over-reacting."

_Over reacting_? Oh HELL no. "He accused me of betraying him, Hannah! What was I supposed to do, laugh and agree?!"

She glared and followed as I continued walking, thinking to myself angrily, "_To think she thinks _I_ like _Ed_! She's either an idiot or a traitor… She's a traitor, that's what she is!_"

Third Person Point of View  
(It Had to Happen.)

"Brother?" Al asked. Ed didn't respond. They were on the wagon, going south again. They had already taken Lidia back to town, but the epidemic got to everyone. They just had to move on. He sat against the edge of the wagon, arms crossed as he glared at the ground. Partly because of what happened with the village, but secondly because of Riley.

He was worried.

He didn't want to admit it. He wasn't _going_ to admit it. But it was true. What if something happened? He shouldn't care, seeing as how he still felt a little betrayed by her contact with Mustang; But it was too late. Riley Mauler had gotten to Edward Elric, and something like this couldn't change that. Ed sighed at this realization and glanced to his brother, "What, Alphonse?"

Al paused before asking the question he and Winry were both wondering. "What happened back there with Riley? Why'd she storm off like that?"

Ah. _That_ was why he was mad. He had almost forgotten. With a scowl, Ed replied, "Forget about her, Al."

With a sigh, Al shook his head, "What did you do this time, Brother?"

Ed glared up at him, "What do you mean what did I do?! She was the one that started it! She was talking to Mustang!"

"And?"

Falling silent, the elder brother looked on in shock. "And? She's probably been giving him information about us this whole time!"

"Why would she do that?" Winry asked, confused. Both brothers looked over at her and she sighed, "Guys… I'm going to be honest. I never really trusted Riley, but I wouldn't necessarily go that far with it."

Ed sighed, looking away from his brother and friend. This wasn't helping his stress.

Back With Riley.  
(Because isn't it FUN?)

"Excuse me, sir?" I asked dully, peering over the counter at the man. We were inside a bakery, and it was the last stop in our, "Let's-Ask-Around-And-_Hope_-Someone-Has-The-Balls-To-Tell-Us-Where-Radley-Is" plan.

He looked down at Hannah and me and nodded with a smile. He was a big man, brown hair with an apron on. "Yes? What can I do for you ladies?" He asked kindly.

"_Yeah, smile while you still don't know our question…_," Was something I was sure went through the minds of both Hannah and me as I let out a sigh. "We're looking for a man by the name of Radley Blackburn," I replied. Hannah stood by my side, waiting quietly.

The man tensed and shook his head quickly, "We have no Radleys around here."

"Are you sure? He could've just got here recently," Hannah piped up hopefully, as well as exhaustedly.

He waved his arms back and forth as he shouted, "There are no Radleys here!"

I glared. That was obviously a bunch of crock… Stupid old man. We left the restaurant and looked around. I felt like we hit a wall. No, actually, I felt like we started in a box. We started nowhere and ended up in the same place. No one was saying a word about Radley. Growling, I ran forward and kicked a trash can over. "This sucks! It's like they want to help him kill them!"

Hannah sighed, "Maybe they're just too afraid to give any answers. Or they don't know he's back."

We both sat down on the curb of the path and I looked over at her. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Well…," She looked at me, "What is he like?"

I fell silent. Looking away, I rubbed the back of my neck, "I… Don't know." Her expression turned deadpan and I sighed, "All I've ever known about him is he's a psychopath that likes dissecting people."

Hannah nodded and began to look around from the curb. "So you'd think he'd want to stay somewhere away from the public eye, but where there's a lot of people too…" I stared at her dully, wondering if she realized how contradictive that sounded. She suddenly blinked and smiled, "I wonder if there's a house around the entrance or exit of the village."

When a scream reached our ears, we both snapped our hands in the direction of it. Jumping up, we rushed toward it, hoping it was(and wasn't at the same time) Blackburn. We reached an alley where there were several people standing around in shock. "'Scuse us," I mumbled as I squeezed my way in between people to get to the alley, Hannah following suit.

We reached the front and stopped when we saw it. A man was laying on the ground, dead. It was obvious he was dead. Not by the bulging bruise on the back of his neck, but by the fact his eyes had exploded. Hannah covered her mouth, eyes wide as she shook. This was definitely Blackburn's work. I took off out of the alley and spun around on my heels, looking for anyone even resembling him as my fists clenched in anxiety. No luck.

Damn it.

With Ed and Al.

"You're worrying."

Ed sighed and glanced to the voice. Winry sat there, staring at him in concern. "So what if I am?" He spat back stubbornly as he looked back out the window. It was getting dark so they stopped at a hotel for the night. That was Ed's reasoning, but Al and Winry assumed it was because he was waiting for Riley and Hannah.

Winry shook her head, looking down at her friend. "If you're so worried, just look for them. What's the big deal?"

"She wants to help Mustang, that's the big deal," Ed replied.

His friend paused. Was she really going to try to help her claimed Frenemy? She sighed. "Ed… No matter how annoying that may be, you know you're still worried. Don't regret not doing anything." Ed said and did nothing. Winry sighed, walking away as she gave up. Temporarily.

Al watched Winry leave, and then looked to his older brother in silence as he thought back to the day he and Ed were leaving the hospital, and Riley would be staying back to heal…

_"Al!" Al turned at the voice and saw Riley running down the hall to him. He was waiting outside the room as Ed got ready to leave._

_"Yes? What is it?" He asked, looking down at her. _

_She sighed, "I don't know how long I'll be looking for Hannah, so I want you to give this to Ed, alright?" She then held out a small carton-sized box, wrapped in simple red wrapping paper. "I know his birthday was recently."_

_If he could've, he would've smiled. He nodded, "Alright! I'll be sure to give it to him. What is it?" Riley was about to reply, when she heard the door opening. Her eyes widened and she quickly opened the small latch where the stomach of Al's armor was. Shoving the present into it, she slammed the latch shut and looked over at Ed nervously. Al was rubbing the back of his head at her dramatic actions._

Remembering this, Al opened the latch and dug down into his armor. Once he felt it, he grabbed the box and pulled it out. He looked down at it exasperatedly. The box, previously a perfect rectangle shaped box, was now lumpy and beaten. He looked up at his brother, wondering if he should give it to him.

Back with Black(burn)

"The bruises on his neck were basically a lot of tissue damage. It's odd seeing that much when he was just in an alley. There was that, and then obviously the eye problem," A doctor told me as he sat down at the table across from me. Hannah was waiting outside, not wanting to hear his damage report.

I nodded. "I take it the eye damage was instant death."

"No actually," He shook his head, "Inside the eye lies a gel. According to the evidence, this gel began to melt. It then exploded. That was what caused the damage. He was close to death after that, I'm sure, but the injury to the neck paralyzed them. Both would've killed him, and around the same time too. I can't really tell which caused his death."

Sighing, I shook my head, "I don't suppose it matters. I know what happened, that's enough."

"So who do you think did this anyways, Ma'am?" He asked as he took off his gloves.

I paused before replying with, "A man by the name of Radley Blackburn."

The doctor froze, falling silent and stiff. Hurriedly taking off his gloves, his shook his head, "I'm… I'm sorry, but I'm really busy. You should probably be leaving."

With a scowl, I stood from the table, "I figured as much…" I left the building and looked to Hannah who waited for my explanation. I nodded at her. "It's Blackburn."

She sighed and stood from the step. "So what are we going to do?"

"Look for his house. He may not be there, but I need to know about this guy…," I muttered as we headed out of the village. Hannah nodded in agreement. "I want you to go back to the hotel."

Hannah blinked, surprised. "What? I'm going with you!"

Sighing, I shook my head. "It's best you don't. He may be there and if that's the case, I don't need to worry about it."

She pouted, not wanting to, but knowing I had a point. "Fine… But take care of yourself, alright?"

. . .

I had been walking for about an hour now, looking for a house around the outskirts of the village. I yawned as I looked around the area. "This sucks… I'm a run away State and still doing grunt work for him!"

Hearing a bush rustle, I spun around to it, now on even more alert. It was total silence. I picked up a rock and threw it at the bush, wondering what it was. The rock went passed the bushes, hit something, and then bounced off it. The contact caused a grunt and an, "Ow..!"

I glared at the bushes, "Come on out!" The bushes rustled some more, and two kids walked out. One was a boy with red choppily cut hair and brown eyes. He was in jean overalls and a white blouse-style shirt. The other kid was a bit taller, a girl with black hair in two high pigtails. She wore a green denim-looking dress with a black jacket over it. The two were dirty, leaves in hair and mud on faces, but their clothes were for the most part, completely clean. They looked to be about eight. "Who the hell are you two?" I asked bluntly.

The girl placed her hands on her hips proudly, "_My_ name is Lisa, for your information! And this is my brother, Mark! We're the rulers of these outskirts!"

Mark nodded. "Now who are _you_?"

"Riley Mauler…," I replied dully. Where'd these kids even come from? Oh wait! Blinking, I hurriedly looked over at them. "Have you seen a man ye' tall(I motioned the height with my arms), dark red hair, pale skin? By the name of Radley Blackburn?"

The two paused, looking to each other. They nodded. "Yep," Lisa replied, "So you're the girl asking around for him."

"Great!" I smiled, "Where is he?"

"Well…" The two looked to each other again and Mark rubbed the back of his neck, "We haven't seen _him_… We've seen his house."

I shrugged, "That's just as good. Where is the house?"

"Come with us!" Lisa exclaimed before running off. Mark and I followed.

Finally reaching the destination, Lisa and Mark stopped. I looked up at the house. It looked more like a cabin, really, with a metal door and two windows on the front. A chimney climbed its way above the roof, and a small porch was in front of the door. "This is it?"

The two kids nodded as we headed inside. I didn't expect what I saw. Along the walls of the room were shelves, along with a desk to the left. The shelves were mixed with papers, books and statues. To the right was a small kitchen area, rust along most of the appliances. There was a round green rug in the middle of the room, a small light hanging above it on the roof. I walked around in surprise. All this valuable research for alchemy, it was amazing. The thought that a man such as Blackburn had once stood in this house however, not so much. I pulled out a book which happened to be a journal. Opening it, I saw neat handwriting and complex graphs.

_I've done it. I've finally done it. The dissection on my first set of eyes. They're amazing. There's so much. So many elements such as a gel like substance on the inside, around the veins. I'm not sure what all it is, but I can already tell most of it is water. There's so much here… So much an alchemist can use against an enemy._

I scowled at the passage; That was how he damaged the dead man's eyes. He controlled the water inside the man's eyes. It was brilliant, but so morbid. Suddenly I heard the door behind me slam. Spinning around, I walked over to it. "Guys, you could've caught the door!" I complained as I grabbed the knob.

The door wouldn't open.

"G-Guys?" I shouted as I began trying harder. "Guys! Open the door!"

In response, I saw Lisa's head peak up into the window to my right. With a glare, she shouted, "This is what you get for messing with Mr. Radley!" I banged on the door as I heard the two kids run off.

Shit.

Big big _shit_.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	30. Tridsať! That's 30!

Hola guys! I can't believe I have 200+ reviews for this story. O.o

Not only that, but I have reached thirty chapters for this story! And it only took two years. Hurrah! I've never gotten this far and _still_ liked writing the story before.

I'm updating sooner than usual because this is proving to be a hard month. Not only is MomoCon nearing(I'M TOTALLY COSPLAYING SUPERTOBI AGAIN. 8D), but my cousin's birthday is coming up, along with my boyfriend's prom. (Deadpan Face Here.) Then there's the fact I'm stressing over college and my future and what colleges I want to apply to and what colleges I'd _love_ to go to but I know there's a fat, **fat** change I won't be able to go to and just how I'll get _into _college and what the hell it is I'm going to do with my life(Historian? Commercial photographer? Writer? AUGH. This was easier when I was six and could just say, "Screw this, I'll be a Pokemon Trainer!"). But at least I survived the entire weekend that was spent looking for a dress and shoes! Hurrah.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Very big trouble, indeed!

**SoftcoreOtaku:** I know you've been reading(I stalk you all. Rlly.) and thanks! I'm glad you think it's awesome. xB And yeah, I originally put a dash in between it, but Title Chapters don't allow dashes. Poo.

**Katsekala:** Ed must save her! Thanks again~ x33

**Fmagurl123:** Yeah, they're little troublemakers, alright. And thanks! I'm glad you liked that. That's one thing I always keep in mind. Relationships shouldn't progress too quickly. I'd love to write Blackburn in on this chapter, but I think that's a bit too early. Seriously, I had a huge debate over it with myself. (Deadpan Here)

**yumixjaganshi: **Yes! I'm evil, aren't I? Mwahaha! And by the way, I considered _not_ updating, just to see the Sea Monkeys. So. Yeah.

**xXKaminari-TsubasaXx:** Hehe that should've dawned on her. She was just too tired. (Not to mention emotional. xP)

**Rabid Cream Puffs:** They'll definitely be answered in this chapter! Aww, thank you. I'm glad you like it. COOKIES. 8B

**The Psychotic Cherry Blossom:** Wowww, thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

**PixieStixys:** I'M SO FLATTERED. 8D And yay, skittles! (Less Than Three Here. 8D)

**ThankfulMemories(Chapter One):** Why thank you!  
(**Chapter Three):** After looking around some, I realize I had an error in the Chapter Title. While "Drei" is German, "_Drie_" is Dutch. So, yes, "Drei" is German. But I was using Dutch, which according to translators, is "Drie". (Kind of like how "No" Is English, and "No", is also Spanish?)

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

I do _not_ own FullMetal Alchemist. I _do_ own Riley, other original characters, and the current plot. Yay. 8D

* * *

**Chapter Thirty:  
**_Riley's Saviors in Question._**  
**

Hannah sighed as she paced the hotel room quickly. Riley had been gone for two days. Obviously she had reason to worry. "Damn her… Disappearing like this…," Hannah muttered under her breath as she chewed on her nails. She knew she should have gone with her friend. But no. She didn't.

When she heard a knocking on the door, she rushed over. Hannah swung the door open and in her disappointment and surprise, saw Ed, Al and Winry standing there. "What..? What are you three doing here?" Ed scowled as he remembered earlier that morning.

_Ed groaned, fidgeting. He had a bad feeling about something. "Fine!" He shouted, standing quickly. Al jumped in surprise as Ed glared, "We'll go check on Riley and Hannah! Happy now?!" He stomped out of the room as Al and Winry looked to each other in silent victory._

"Al wanted to make sure you two were alright," Ed mumbled in rushed fashion before squeezing himself into the room. He looked around and not seeing what he was hoping, peered into the closet and the bathroom. He pulled back and looked over at Hannah, "Where's Riley?"

Hannah was about to respond with a comment along the lines of, 'What do you care?' But the situation didn't call for that. With a downward look, she shook her head. "I don't know…"

The three widened their eyes in surprise. "You don't know? What happened?" Winry asked.

"We were looking for Blackburn's old home. Riley went to check the outskirts and she sent me back here. That was two days ago," Hannah replied.

Ed began to worry again. He had a bad feeling; Was this it? Taking off out of the room, he ignored his friends calling him back.

. . .

Winry and Ed ran along the outskirts of the village, looking for Blackburn's house. The two were quiet, too worried to bother with conversation. Winry was thinking. She never cared for Riley, and still really didn't. But it was obvious that Ed and Al had taken to the girl and her friend. Denying that would be stupid. They were all close, she could tell.

She was jealous.

She had been around for the Elrics since they were all kids. She had helped them, supported them, watched them grow and yet, they never opened up with her. Never called. Never talked. "_They probably have with Riley,_" Winry thought to herself bitterly. She knew she couldn't stop them from trusting other people, but it didn't matter. It still hurt to watch them bond with Riley, of all people.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ed shouting, "Who in the hell are you two?!"

Winry stopped running to look up and see two kids standing in front of them. Mark and Lisa. She blinked curiously, "Ed, you don't need to be so harsh."

Lisa nodded, "Yeah, _Ed_!" Said boy scowled in annoyance, causing the girl to smirk. "My name is Lisa! This is Mark and we're the rulers of these outskirts!"

"So who are you?!" Mark shouted, glaring at them. They weren't expecting any more people around Radley's house yet, here they were.

"I'm Winry. This is Ed. It's nice meeting you both," Winry replied politely.

Ed wasn't so trusting. "What are you kids doing out here?"

"I already told you," Lisa repeated in annoyance, "We watch over these lands. What do you two want?!"

"We're looking for a friend of ours. Maybe you've seen her?" Winry asked hopefully.

"Is it a girl?" Mark asked. The two nodded. "Brown hair?" They nodded. "Kind of clumsy?"

"That's her!" Winry exclaimed.

Lisa nodded, placing a hand on her hip, "We've seen her. What do you care?"

Ed scowled, "Listen kid, we don't have time for your stupid games! Tell us which way she went already!"

"I don't want to," Lisa retorted snottily. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell someone as rude as you!"

The Elric glared at the girl. These two had to be hiding something, and he didn't have the time to find out what. Who knew what Riley could have gotten into to. Quickly, Ed clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. Winry shouted her protest as the rock bulged from the ground and spikes shot their way toward the two kids. Despite Winry's worry, Mark slipped a piece of paper onto the ground and placed his hands on it. Spikes formed on their end, and when Ed's and Mark's spikes collided, they crumbled to the ground. "I thought so," Ed stated, "You two have been trained. Who exactly are you and where is Riley?"

"We won't tell you anything, Shorty!" Lisa exclaimed.

Ed snapped. With a quick transmutation, two trees had wrapped around the children, holding them in place. "H-Hey!" Mark shouted, "I didn't call you short! She did!"

The blond glared at the kids before running passed them, continuing his search.

_Elsewhere_. Oooh.

I sighed as I leaned against the wall in the living room. There were no chairs. I stared at the door in a weak, hungry fashion. There was nothing in the fridge of the kitchen except for jars filled with body parts. I tried alchemy to break through the wall and door, but there were hidden circles covering the inside of the place, and I almost blew myself up. I tried the old fashioned away too. Nothing there would break a metal door, and the windows had a coating of protection on them.

Food. I wanted food. A nice ham sandwich. Maybe some caffeine, too. That sounded good. I was tired; I want to sleep but I couldn't. I wouldn't let myself. "I hate this," I muttered under my breath as I lay on the floor. Maybe one little nap wouldn't have hurt…

Sleep began to catch up with me, when I heard a familiar voice. "Ed!" My ears perked at it, but I didn't sit up. I was too tired. It sounded like Winry. "Ed, hold up!"

I ignored it though, dismissing it as sleep deprivation. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard footsteps on the porch outside the house. "Riley!" My eyes shot open as I sat up. That couldn't have been my imagination.

Staggering to my feet, I rushed to the door, "Ed?!"

I began to bang on the door. He stopped a moment, and when he heard it clearly, I heard him rush to the door. Unlocking it from the outside, he swung the door open. I leaped forward, hugging him as we fell to the ground of the porch. "R-Riley…," He mumbled.

Sniffing, I shook my head, "I never thought I'd have a ham sandwich again…!"

His expression turned deadpan. "Riley, that would've been…" He trailed off when he heard me snore a bit.

…What? I was locked in a room for two days. I could've been laying on _Winry_, and not care.

. . .

I groaned a bit as I woke from my slumber. Opening my eyes, I saw the Elric brothers. I slowly sat myself up and Ed looked over. "Hey," He said as Al looked over as well.

"…Hey," I muttered, rubbing my head. "Where's Winry and Hannah?"

"They went to get everyone something to eat. We decided to stay back and watch over you," Al spoke up, "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Hungry." Glancing to Ed, I scowled stubbornly, "Thanks…"

He paused before nodding and looking away as well. "Sorry about earlier."

"…" I sighed, wanting to still be mad at him. But I knew I couldn't be. "It's fine. I guess I would've been suspicious too," I replied before muttering bitterly, "Wouldn't have taken it THAT FAR, but I would've been suspicious…"

Ed twitched at this but ignored it, knowing it was the nicest reply he'd ever get from me after an apology. "So… What about this Blackburn guy?"

I let out a sigh as I began to explain, "All I really know is that he's killed several men and used their bodies for anatomy research to advance his alchemy. He does a lot of alchemy on the human body, it's how he kills. There are things he knows about the body that most people don't know…"

"Sounds like a charming guy," Ed mumbled sarcastically, hands in his pockets as he slouched in the chair he sat in.

"Very," I replied with a roll of my eyes.

Al spoke this time. "What have you found out so far, Riley?" He asked.

With a sigh, I shook my head. "Not much. No one wants to tell anything. They're either too scared or just too stupid to…," Was my response as I positioned myself more comfortably in bed. "Though… There _was_ a murder three days ago."

"What?" The brothers asked in surprise, looking over at me with widened eyes.

I nodded, "Yeah. His neck was broken, and his eyes were exploded. Or, well, melted for a better term. I looked around afterward but didn't see Radley."

"What about his house?" Ed asked in interest.

"Looked like there was just a bunch of information on his researches. I didn't really get a good chance to look around closely though, considering…," I replied as Winry and Hannah walked in.

Hannah smiled, rushing over. "Riley! You're awake. How do you feel?" She asked as Winry walked over silently.

I shrugged at her, "Do you have food?" She nodded and held out the bag. Snatching it from her, I grinned, "I feel great!"

She normally would have deadpanned, but smiled instead. "I'm glad you're alright."

Winry nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. Good thing Ed found you…," She mumbled softly. I twitched, a bit afraid of what her real thoughts were. Probably murderous, evil ones. She had to have them. I just knew it.

"So what are we going to do?" Hannah asked as she sat down, looking in between us all.

Ed looked down in thought as he began to speak, "I think we need to go back to Radley's house and see if we can find anything, Al and me."

The girls didn't reply when they saw me glaring at Ed. "No way, little man," I growled.

The blond jerked his head up, glaring at me. "What was that?" He hissed out.

"I said, _No Way Little Man_!" I repeated, only louder. I wasn't going to just sit around and do nothing!

"You just got stuck in a house for two days! You don't need to be going back there!" Ed shouted, glaring down at me as he stood to make himself feel taller. Hah. I'd show him who was taller!

And that's exactly what I did. Standing, I walked over to him and glared down at him, poking my chest out to seem tougher. "I'm going, and that's _that_," I growled down at him.

He glared, brow twitching as he realized what was going through my mind. "You're staying here."

"DAMN IT ELRIC!!" And so, the arguing ensued.

. . .

A few hours had passed, and Ed, Al and I were headed to Radley's house. Ed was reluctant about it, but with the help of Al, I _persuaded_ him(Basically, Al reminded Ed if he didn't shut up about me staying, _he'd_ be the one that would have to stay because of the damage I'd cause him.) The blond was glaring at me stubbornly as we walked. Finally, I sighed and spun around on my heel to glare at Ed. "Will you stop it already?!" I exclaimed.

His glare didn't phase as he replied, "You shouldn't be coming!"

"Will you both stop?" Al asked, exhausted. Between Ed and me, I'm sure Al really was tired. I kind of felt bad for him.

_Kind of._

We looked over at Al with a glare and he sighed. "Brother, Riley's coming because it is her responsibility. And Riley, be careful. You're still w-"

"What, weak?" I retorted, "I'm not weak! I had enough sleep, and I even ate! I'm fine."

Al shook his head, "You still need to be more careful."

Ed was nodding victoriously, to which I stuck my tongue out at him. But we both quieted down for the sake of Al, and continued our walk. After several minutes, we had reached Radley's home. I paused, glancing around the place to see if those snots were anywhere near. I was pleased to see they weren't. Silently, we walked up the stairs and entered the house.

The inside of the room looked the same as it did when I was there last. There were books galore, and for the most part, an empty home. Ed and Al made their way to the bookshelves while I looked around the home. I wanted to find those transmutation circles that kept me locked inside that damn house in the first place. And so, the job of tearing off every poster, painting, and picture hanging on the wall began. After several minutes, I let out a long sigh of defeat; so much for that plan. After a while of thinking about it, I had decided to be more thorough. I began to move furniture and looking in and behind appliances for any sign of a circle. But I found none. Biting my lip, I looked downward in thought. My hands caught my eye and an idea was struck.

_"The skin they will use for her hands… I can draw a circle on the inside, with an ink that won't dissolve into her skin or blood. If my plan works out, she'll be able to use the circles through her skin. It won't hurt her if the plan doesn't work, it's completely harmless," Kevin said, looking straight ahead._

Maybe… I grabbed a knife from my bag(That I had been thoughtful enough to bring this time) and cut off a square piece of the wall. Just maybe… Tearing the wood paneling away from the wall, I saw it.

My eyes widened. A thick, black line was painting onto a deeper layer of wood. Radley had to have covered it with a second layer. Just to make sure my assumptions were correct, I began peeling off the top layer of the walls. Al, who was quietly engaged in a journal, paused to glance up when he heard some noise. "R-Riley…," He mumbled off in confusion and shock.

Ed blinked and looked up as well. His eyes widened in surprise. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"I think–," I paused to pull at the section of the wall, "There's a transmutation-," Finally yanking it off, I toppled over, "Circle… Behind the walls." Seeing Ed's confused expression, I explained. "When I was stuck in here, I tried to transmute my way out but something backfired and I almost exploded myself. I think this is why." Finally realizing what I mean, he walked over and began to help me pull apart the walls. When Al placed his journal away, he began to help us. He was a lot better at it, as he was pretty much armor. Within a few minutes, most of the top layer had been removed, and my assumptions were indeed right.

A large transmutation circle had been drawn onto each wall. It was no wonder I almost blew myself up. It was like a damn Jack-In-The-Box for alchemists. "Let's check the floor, too…," Ed said wisely before moving the rug out of the way. Al and I nodded and got to taking apart the floor. Immediately we were able to notice the ink lines of a transmutation circle.

About an hour had passed, and we had probably taken apart half of the walls, the floor and the ceiling. Each had a large transmutation circle. It really _was_ like a box. While Al and Ed were examining the circles and reading journals to learn more about them, I was looking intently at the ink of the circles. Something about it was familiar. As stupid as it sounded, I had a bad feeling about the ink. "_It's definitely durable… To be able to put a layer of wood and gloss and paint over it, and still have the circles effective… It isn't ordinary ink,_" I thought to myself as I glanced to my hands.

Was the ink inside my hands the same as the ink on the walls? If so, this Radley had some explaining to do. My father created that ink specially. No one else had access to that kind of stuff, so what was Radley's secret?

Ed noticed my deep expression and raised a brow. "Riley?" I jerked to attention, looking over at him. "You alright?"

Sighing as I stood up, I nodded. "Yeah, I just… There's something odd about this Radley guy," I replied.

"You don't say…," He mumbled sarcastically. I was about to retort with narrowed eyes, when we heard footsteps nearing the door. We all fell silent and looked over, preparing ourselves for battle.

The door swung open and as Ed readied his automail, Hannah and Winry walked on. Ed twitched as I almost fell over in suprirse. Al sniggered. Che… "You idiots…! You had us worried there for a minute!" I exclaimed, glaring at the girls.

Hannah shrugged as Winry scoffed, "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that we thought you were Radley," Ed explained, just as annoyed as I was.

With a chuckle, Hannah shook her head, "I doubt he'd so obviously enter his home when you three are in here tearing it up."

Ed and I shifted uncomfortably at that. "Well, what are you two here for anyway?" I asked as they both walked further inside and looked around in surprise.

"We got tired of waiting," Winry said with a shrug. Hearing the floor creak as they walked in wasn't a big deal, but when we suddenly started to feel the floor sagging, we began to get concerned. "W-What's that?" Winry asked, growing nervous.

All of us looked at the floor for sign of movement, when it dawned on me. The circles, the metal door, the unbreakable windows, and now the floor sinking in. "Radley's rigged this place!" I shouted suddenly. They looked over at with widened eyes and we made a beeline for the door.

Before we could even get there, the floor caved in. We let out yells of shock as we felt ourselves falling. Landing hard on rock ground, I could hear us all groaning in some way. All but Al of course. I sat up and looked around our surroundings. It was dark and rock was all around us. A small desk sat against one wall with a few things placed on it, but that was pretty much it for furniture. Aside from that, transmutation circles were drawn on the floor and walls as well.

"What happened?" Hannah groaned out as she got up from her stomach.

I sighed. "I'm guessing Radley built that floor just sturdy enough for a certain amount of weight. Once that was exceeded, it most likely meant there were more than a few people inside the place, which probably meant intruders… When you and Winry walked in, that pushed the weight passed its limits and caved the floor in…," I explained as I rubbed my ass, standing up.

Al helped Winry up as Ed stood also. "Seems like Radley's a bit on the paranoid side," Ed grumbled, looking up as he began planning a way to get out.

"Very," I nodded as I walked over to the desk to examine its contents. There was a small photo album, along with a small container of what looked to be black ink. That must've been what he was using on the walls. To the corner of the table, a picture frame was lying on its front. Grabbing the picture, I turned it over and my eyes widened. The picture was of Radley, and a familiar black-haired man. "What… Is this…?" I mumbled under my breath.

Hannah walked over and gasped slightly at the sight of the picture, recognizing the second man as well. "Riley, what's that about?"

I shook my head, unable to produce a reply. It was confusing, even for me. What could _he_ have been doing around Radley? Handing Hannah the picture, I opened the photo album, a bit afraid of what would be inside. Instead of pictures, there were letters. Looking closely at them, I could see that some were address to Radley, while others had been addressed _his_ name. What the hell was going on? Ed noticed my uncomfortable silence and walked over curiously and somewhat concerned. "What is it, Riley?" He asked, looking over my shoulder. He didn't get it. "Who's this guy Radley's writing letters to?"

"…" My frown had become a scowl as it all began to add up as I read the letters.

Hannah, knowing I wasn't going to give Ed the answers, handing him the photo. "That picture is Radley and… And Riley's father."

* * *

Yeesh, I wasn't expecting to write that. But at least it's coming along nicer than most of my other original ideas, no? x'D

Chapter Translations!  
Chapter _Twenty-Eight_ is Danish.  
Chapter _Twenty-Nine_ is French.  
_This_ chapter is Slovak.

If I got a translation wrong, let me know. I've currently started using Bing Translator, so I have a whole new set of languages to use! Hehehehe.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	31. Třicet Jedna! That's 31!

My God! Have you heard the horrible news?

DeviantART is _shrinking_. Whoop-dee-doo, people, whoop-dee-freaking-doo.

Holy shit, was I pissed. I haven't uploaded anything to the site since I heard the news – boycotting, or just too afraid to see my sucky photos become even worse when they're forcefully re-sized? I do not know. Maybe both. Yes, I'll go with both. I've resorted to uploading my photos to my Facebook, and NO ONE CARES THERE. SobSob.

But because I haven't been spending time on DeviantART, I've had more time to write. I seriously have the next four chapters waiting to be uploaded – after I tweak them of course.

Well on lighter news – MomoCon is tomorrow! Pray for me. Tobi is horrible to cosplay.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**PixieStixys:** Want to know something? NEITHER DID I. Hehe. I'm a genius? =O Why am I the last to know this tid-bit of information? Hah, that was my favorite line I've written for this story so far! xD

**Ria442: **You're baack! (Tear, Tear.) Thank you's, my dear! I'm glad you enjoy it so!

**.C H I D O R I – S H I O R I.:** Why thank you! I'm glad you think so. Teehee.

**AliceInNeverland:** Well yes. All my readers need to be insane! Mwahahaha. Aww. Dx I'm glad I could brighten your day a little! Huzzah to that. Hehe, that's a good point. I'm homeschooled so I wouldn't even get a chance to go to a prom; It's all good really. Sounds complicated! Yes, dress shopping is horrible, boring and sweaty. Blech. I'm glad you like the story though and yeah, Ed and Riley are definitely getting closer with each other. Slowly but surely, eh? And _thank you_. I seriously couldn't believe that Pig Latin hadn't crossed my mind. I'm TOTALLY USING THAT. 8D

**Rabid Cream Puffs:** Yes, they're on good terms again! Hopefully it'll stay that way. Ham Sammiches are Riley's number one weakness. xP Aww. I haven't had a cupcake in forever~!

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Verrrrry interesting. (Strokes chin in cliché-Villain style.)

**Katsekala: **Fear the cliffhanger! Mwahaha. Thank you though. x333

**Fmagurl123:** I suppose it'd be immature to say, "HAH, FOOLED YOU,"? Hehe. Roy actually crossed my mind, but what with the ink, it was best to go with Riley's father – Plus it's a nice little story twist. Here's the next chapter! x'D

**Mizunou:** Hehe, thank you! xD

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

Just a little warning in advance – This chapter is, to put it simply, Riley reading the letters in the album. It may be a bit too serious or boring, but it needed to be done. I already have the next chapter written anyway. Thank yew and goodnight.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist or its content. Namely the Ishbalin War. I do, however, own the Rebellion Army, Radley and Riley(Along with the chapter's storyline.)

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One:  
**_Letters of a Soldier  
(Radley's Album)_

"_What is your name_?" He asked.

Kevin was looking down at the man before him in a blank stare. His cold brown eyes were merciless as his hair was shoulder length; black and smooth as the sun shone down on it. Despite the sunny weather, the air was cold and humid. The man sitting in front of him was much different. His silver hair was short and slightly spiked while his green eyes looked up with much emotion; fear, hope, desire, and defeat. His clothes, mostly scarlet red in color, were tattered greatly. "_R-Radley… Radley Blackburn,_" He stuttered out in reply.

"_What are you doing out here?_" Kevin questioned.

Radley glanced around. The streets were empty as it was early morning. He sighed. "_I've travelled from home. Hotels are closed at this hour,_" Was Radley's response.

Kevin remained silent a few seconds. He glanced down to the necklace that hung at Radley's neck. It was a silver transmutation circle. 'An alchemist…,' He thought to himself. "_Come with me, then._"

Blinking in surprise, Radley became suspicious. "_Who… Who are you_?" He asked quietly, readying his hands. Kevin noticed.

"_Kevin Mauler._"

Radley's eyes widened. This was the man he was searching for. The reason he had travelled so far from home. "_You…_" Kevin blinked in acknowledgement as Radley stood to his feet quickly. "_You're the founder of the Rebellion Army! I… I want you to train me_," He said firmly.

Scowling, Kevin sighed. "_I'm not a teacher. We're an army, not a school._"

The second man glared at him, "_Then I'm joining your army_."

. . .

"_I don't get this_!" Radley shouted angrily, throwing the book at the wall. It slammed against it, and slid to the floor.

Kevin sighed. "_The more you let yourself get frustrated, the more you won't understand it_," He explained for the umpteenth time. Radley's hair had gotten slightly darker, and he had let it grow to his chin by now; while his skin had gotten slightly tanner due to the tedious training outside. Kevin's hair was almost near his waist, but he looked almost the same elsewhere.

Radley glared up at the Mauler man with a scoff. "_That's what you always say, Kevin. And look where we are now! It's been a year already and I've hardly progressed at all._"

Glaring down at Radley, Kevin shook his head. "_You've progressed in strength. You just need to work on your knowledge now…_," Kevin replied before heading to the door silently. As he left the room, Radley picked up the book and began to read it again. Kevin had entered the main room, where Claire and Gregory sat. Gregory was younger than the couple and it showed on his face. Claire had light blonde hair that reached her chin, and bright blue eyes that shone with calmness.

She looked over at him once he entered. "_How is it going in there_?" She asked, concerned.

Kevin sighed, sitting beside her. "_He's growing impatient,_" He answered.

Claire shook her head, glancing to Gregory. "_We've been talking, Kevin. Something is odd with that boy. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure of it. He's got dark intentions…_"

"_I know…,_" Kevin muttered out. The two sitting beside and across from him looked over in surprise. He sighed. "_Radley has the wrong ideals to be an alchemist. It would shame anyone. But we need him right now. The Rebellion Army is in a critical state, and it will only get worse in time. We need his potential._"

With a small glare, his wife spoke up. "_And what then? What happens when his potential runs dry and we've used him up? What will you be willing to do, Kevin? You know you're growing attached to the boy. We all see it. If you're hoping he changes along the way, things will only be worse,_" She said defiantly.

"_Clairessant, I know this. But we don't have much choice_," Kevin said with a sigh.

Suddenly the door was swung open; Radley standing there holding the book. "_I understand it!_" He exclaimed, "_I understand it now… It's so simple!_"

. . .

_Kevin,_

_I apologize for the late letter. You must be impatient by now. I've been doing that research like you asked. I'm beginning to understand the human body and how it functions. You were right. Working at this campsite has been worth it. And as far as that ink resolution you sent me goes… I tried it on one of the skin samples here. At first it was fine, but slowly the skin started to disintegrate. It was too strong. I have more tests to run with it but you may want to send another try of it._

_Blackburn_

"_You do realize those 'skin samples' were from people he's killed, don't you_?" Claire asked, looking up at Kevin.

He sighed. "_Yes…_"

Claire scowled, looking up at her husband. "_You have to stop him! He's killing more and more, and his letters are sounding less and less guilty. It's getting too easy for him lie to you in these letters. You need to go to him and stop it. We're getting a bad reputation, Kevin…_," She reasoned desperately.

Kevin looked down at her and shook his head. "_He isn't a part of the Rebellion Army. What he does is no concern of ours._" Claire glared at him and turned, walking off.

A sigh came from behind Kevin as Gregory looked from the door to him. "_She's right. You know she is. You can't let him get away with this. You won't. It's against your morale._"

Gregory was right.

_Blackburn,_

_It's good you're progressing. That's what's needed for the Rebellion Army. Maybe one day you will be able to join. Gregory has been training the others as usual. Claire's had to take care of more wounds because of training than the battlefield. I've left you another sample of the ink. It should be in the envelope. I expect a test result from it soon. We need it soon as possible._

_Kevin._

. . .

_Kevin,_

_You need to come. Come as soon as you can. I have an idea for that ink… It's perfect… I've finished my research on the human skin. I know what can make that ink durable enough, while gentle as well. I'm shortly outside a southern village. You'll know when you get here. But please, hurry. Your ink is going to be perfect. I swear it…_

_Blackburn_

_Blackburn,_

_I'll be on my way soon. Claire is against going, what with the heat between the militia and the Rebellion Army. Gregory has been trying to talk me into bringing guards. But ignore that. I will be there soon. I hope this ingredient theory of yours is worth the trip._

_Kevin._

. . .

_Kevin,_

_Things are going well here now that the military has left the town. People are more at ease. Your men are heading back to the dojo first thing tomorrow morning. I on the other hand will be staying here. This is a great place for relaxation. I've made a home here. I know you will understand. Have you used the ink yet? I have. It's perfect._

_Blackburn_

_Blackburn,_

_The soldiers arrived around the same time as your letter. They're all safe and well now. Gregory and I have been working harder and harder recently. Claire is pregnant. We've only received the news recently. Eight more months, and we will have a child to take care of. Gregory will be working much harder when that time comes. Yes, I understand your decision Radley. I hope you lead a healthy life. And for the ink… No, I haven't used it yet. No one knows about it either. I want to use it wisely. As you should, too._

_Kevin._

_Kevin,_

_That is a surprise. I hope Claire is healthy as she always is. You will make good parents, I'm sure of it. Will Gregory be the godfather? I'm glad you support this, sir. That's what I needed to hear. It's reassuring._

_Blackburn_

_Blackburn,_

_That was what I wanted to talk to you about. I would like you to be the godfather. But only if you can promise me one thing. Stop killing._

_Kevin_

"_Has he replied yet_?" Claire asked, looking up at Kevin nervously.

With a sigh, he shook his head. "_No. He's troubled. I can tell. He wants to accept our offer… But his bloodlust is far too strong for him. He never was one for self control_," Kevin grumbled out.

Claire sighed, "_I know you were expecting that to fix things, Kevin, but… He's too deep in this._"

"_…You're right._"

. . .

Two years had passed, and everyone had grown. Claire's hair had become shoulder length, her face more rounded and matured as well. A baby girl had been brought into the dojo as well. Riley Mauler. Radley was almost Kevin's height; His hair shoulder length and black with a few silver strands left. His green eyes had become more confident, as well as colder. Kevin had gotten even taller, with black hair down to his waist. Both were tanned and muscular, after their dojo training sessions together. The two were like brothers.

Very, very complicated brothers.

Radley was dependent on the older man, while at the same time much more keen on the human body. Kevin was stronger, more advanced and experienced. The two cared for one another, along with the others of the Rebellion Army; but that the same time, Radley was becoming someone else. His bloodlust was much stronger now, along with his temper. Despite his intelligence, he was far less experienced; far less knowledgeable when it came to life decisions.

Claire was tired of it. As was Gregory. Aside from Kevin, they were the only two in the army aware of Radley's bloodlust.

"_Clairessant,_" Kevin muttered as he walked into the main room. She sat at the table while she held a baby girl, and she looked up at him. "_War has started near East City as a result of the Ishbalin War… Radley is going to be sent there with a few of our men._" Upon seeing her eyes widen, he started before she could protest, "_It's our only option at the moment. Aside from us, there's Gregory and Radley. You know Gregory can't go – not now with Ishbal waiting to be protected._"

With a scowl, she nodded grimly. There was no choice to refuse.

. . .

Several people stood outside the Mauler dojo as Kevin, Claire and Gregory stood in front of them. Claire was holding her child. Radley led the group. "_Remember. Send a letter at every update_," Kevin stated.

Radley nodded. "_I will. Please update me as well._"

"_Take care of them, Radley,_" Kevin said, nodding to the people behind Radley. "_Failing is one thing, killing our men is another,_" He said, sending him a warning glare.

Nodding, he bowed. "_I won't let any of you down_," He said before standing back straight. Glancing to the baby, he looked to Claire. "_Take care of her._" He turned and as he led the men away, Kevin and Claire watching silently.

Gregory gave a low sigh as he stood behind the leaders of the army. "_Hopefully all goes well_…"

. . .

_Kevin,_

_Things aren't going so well here. The military is slowly invading the town. We've put our healthiest men in front while our sick or injured rests. But I don't think they'll last long enough. The townspeople are getting restless, not to mention impatient. I'm afraid we're running out of resources, strategies, men and time. I don't know what happened…_

_I'm sorry._

_Blackburn_

Radley looked up from the desk when he heard shouting outside. Standing from his table, he looked out to see the military coming closer, fighting soldiers from the Rebellion Army along the way. He sighed and looked to either side of him before going back inside the tent he had placed up. One of Kevin's men, who was resting on a bench outside, watched Radley as he entered the tent and scowled. "_I don't like him…_," He thought to himself.

_Blackburn,_

_I understand. That town is only part of this war over Ishbal. But what I don't understand is why you're lying to me. I've heard rumors from my men. You're killing innocent people. The people we're supposed to be protecting. Leave the Rebellion Army to its job if that's your wish._

_Kevin._

Standing against the railing that lined the porch, Kevin let out a long sigh as he thought about Radley. Claire walked over to him, Riley in her arms as she leaned on the rail as well. Kevin placed an arm around Claire's back, but the two quickly panicked when Claire's hands slipped and let go of Riley. Riley was sent toppling over the edge and Kevin quickly leaned over, grabbing her arms. She looked up at him and burst into giggles. Kevin raised his brows incredulously, and sighed, shaking his head.

_Kevin,_

_I apologize for the rumors. I also apologize for the fact they're true. I've killed a few. They were getting in our way, sir. You have to understand that. I know what I did was against your reputation, but I don't regret my past decisions. However… I will control myself. I have a temper; I will learn to control it._

_Blackburn_

Radley looked down at the dead body, holding his bloody sword over it. Hearing shouting coming around the corner, he spun around to see military rushing over. They spotted him and aimed their guns. Dropping the sword to the ground, Radley turned and ran.

. . .

_Blackburn. I have heard the news. You have so easily turned your back on us? You've betrayed my men, and me? I thought you were better than that. You fool. The military isn't your biggest concern now. If and when this war with Ishbal ends, I will personally be after you. After all I've taught you. You were better than this. You know not to get in my way and yet you have. Watch your back._

_Mauler.

* * *

_

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	32. Trisdešimt Du! That's 32!

Okay! I'm back, people! To make a long story short, I flew down to Florida for my cousins' Spring Break. I was only supposed to be there March 29th – April 7th. I planned on updating on the 7th, as a "Welcome Back to Non-Spring Break!" But because I had a buddy pass, I got bumped about ten times on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. So my mom drove down and we stayed the weekend. I just got back today.

So if your spring break just ended, see this as a, "Welcome Back!" chapter. If you're about to go on Spring Break, see this as a, "Let's Start Spring Break off With a Chapter!" chapter. 8P

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Yep. He's a little coward.

**Katsekala:** Yay! My job was done then. xD And thank you!

**PixieStixys:** Thank you! And I did. It was awesome. 8D

**StrawberryJasmine16:** Thanks! I'm glad you like Riley. And as far as the titles go, thanks for letting me know. Like I said, I don't know anything in Spanish but half of what you generally learn in Kindergarten.

**Totally CRAZY and Hyper:** Thank you very much! And it was. They were doing "auto-resize", where you couldn't pick your deviation size. It basically helps art theft(Insert Sarcastic Smile Here)! But luckily, a few days after it happened, DeviantART took it down and you can now change your own sizing options again.

**Rabid Cream Puffs:** Haha, yeah, I didn't think about that when I came up with Radley until afterwards. Radley bashing! X'D COOKIES! Wow. I get cookies, ham sandwiches… You peoplez rock.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

The chapter seemed short, but whatever. Make the font bigger. 8D

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I do own Blackburn, Riley, and all other original characters and content. Yay.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two:  
**_Radley Blackburn_

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

I hate ringing.

Sighing, I looked over to the bench where Ed, Hannah and Winry sat. Al watched them brush the dirt off their clothes. After I had slipped the ink container in my bag, Al hoisted us all up and over the edge. Being on ground level, we all managed to pull Al out. I rushed into town to find a phone, while the others followed behind and shouted things at me to slow me down.

But I wasn't having it.

"_Hello_?" Roy asked lazily, answering the phone.

"What the hell Mustang?!" I shouted, my knuckles going white.

I could hear him sigh. "_What's wrong now_?" He asked.

Glaring at the numbers on the payphone, I growled out, "We went to Radley's home. I found a picture of him and my dad. Next to it was a collection of letters they'd sent each other. Why didn't you tell me about this _beforehand_?!"

Roy was silent for a moment. "_Riley_," he paused a minute to think of what to say, "_During the Ishbalin War, Radley had killed several people. We suspected he was with the Rebellion Army at the time, but there was no proof so it was dismissed. That's why I didn't tell you. It was just a theory. I didn't think it was true-_"

I interrupted him angrily. "Well it was true! You could have at least warned me so I'd be prepared to find out my parents trained a serial killer!" I shouted. That was probably a bad idea, but I was pissed.

"Riley…," Hannah mumbled, walking over to calm me down.

"You keep this to yourself, Mustang!" I shouted, "If you let word slip that the Rebellion Army had something to do with a serial killer, finding Blackburn will be the last of your problems!" Within seconds, I had smashed the phone down, hanging up.

Hannah sighed, watching me quietly. "He tried to stop him, Riley… Give your father credit for that," She said softly, a bit nervous.

I only scowled. "My father raised a murder, knowing that he'd become one. Give my father credit for _that_," I hissed at her before walking off.

Hannah watched me leave in sorrow. She turned to the others to see they had the same feeling as her. "Should I go after her?" She questioned.

Winry shook her head, "She needs time alone right now…"

. . .

"To think I was doing a favor for Mustang… Making a mental note to never do that again," I grumbled as I sat down against a tree. It was quiet; silence at last. I really needed it. This was too much for me. I'd prefer running from Scar than this any day(Then again, Scar wouldn't kill me… Would he?). Sighing, I shook my head at my thoughts and rubbed my neck.

"You again?!"

My eyes widened in alertness, and I jerked up to attention. In front of me were the two troublemakers that caused my pain. What were their names? Lee and Marvin?… No…

As I tried remembering their names, they glared up at me. "I thought we got rid of you," The boy asked. Martin? Manny…

Shaking my head, I stuck my tongue out at them, "Well that shows you twerps! You have a lot of explaining to do!"

The girl glared and shouted, "Not if we kill you!" Lewis? Lacey? Lena…

"For the love of… What the hell are your names?" I asked, annoyed. I couldn't concentrate!

They looked at me in shock, offended I had forgotten. "_My_ name is Lisa! This is my brother, Mark!" The girl shouted angrily.

"Oh yeah," I nodded before knocking my head, "I didn't think of those."

Lisa growled a bit. "I've had enough of you!" She shouted before charging at me. Her red pigtails flew behind her as she ran. Once she reached me, I lowered my arms and grabbed her wrists. She glared as she struggled, but it was no use. I was taller and bigger than she was, and as long as I had a hold of her from an arm's length distance, all was well.

But then I noticed Mark.

He placed a piece of paper down on the ground and slammed his hands onto it. My brow twitched as I heard rock and dirt behind me raise. I looked over my shoulder to see a large arm forming. It began to swing at me, and even though I considered swinging Lisa at it as a bat, I knew it would be low. Even for me. So, I dodged out of the way, dragging the girl with me. As my concentration had turned from her, she took it as her chance to spin away and threw her leg at me. I moved back a little and grabbed her ankle as it came near me. With a large swing, I flipped her into the air. "Lisa!" Mark shouted as she let out a yell, landing hard on her back.

"Amateurs," I said with a smirk.

The kids got to their knees beside each other and Lisa readied her paper. Mark transmuted the ground around me to rise, forming four arms to hit at me. I looked around and ducked one arm, clapping and placing a hand on it. It fell to the ground. I couldn't rejoice for long as I had to jump over a low swipe. I landed on the hand and placed my own on it, causing it to crumble as well. I saw an open hand coming at me and braced myself, holding my hands out in front of me. I wasn't sure if it would work, but as I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, the hand rammed into my hands and crumbled. I dodged to the side avoid a punch, but suddenly a large branch hit my back, most likely Lisa's doing. With a grunt, I was thrown forward and the dirt fist slammed me into a tree.

That'll leave a mark…

Groaning, I slid to the ground as I grabbed at my stomach. "Damn you brats…" Lisa smirked and with the help of Mark, the two transmuted a tree infused with padded down dirt into a large ball. It was thrown at me with a dirt arm and I realized what they had done. "A make-shift bomb…?" I mumbled to myself, wide eyed. Just as the "bomb" had slammed into the tree I was against, I had been grabbed and taken away from the spot by strong arms. Looking up, I was surprised at who I saw.

"Master Gregory…?"

He glanced down at me blankly. "I heard you were looking for Blackburn," He said simply as he let go of me. "Something about you Maulers… Always looking for Radley," He grumbled as he looked up at the children. "Who are these two?"

I scowled as I rubbed my stomach, still feeling the brunt of hitting a tree. "Lisa and Mark… They're working for Blackburn, I think."

The kids glared at me and Lisa shouted, "We don't work for anybody! We're _helping_ Blackburn!"

Gregory shook his head, "Pathetic…" Smirking, I nodded in agreement. The kids glared at us and began their old plan; sending dirt hands at us while Lisa waited for the right moment to stop us. Gregory jumped over the hands within an instant and rushed to Lisa. I began dodging the hands, keeping Mark busy.

Two hands smashed into me I groaned in pain as I stumbled to the ground. "Hurry it up already!" I shouted to Gregory.

Lisa tried hitting him with a tree, but Gregory easily ducked it and grabbed hold of her arm. Twisting it behind her, he looked down at her as she yelped. She struggled, yelling at him as he tied her hands behind her back. I dodged and crumbled several hands, when Gregory caught Mark, doing the same to him as he did to Lisa. I panted as I glared up at Gregory, "Glad you took your time!"

He smirked slightly but ignored me anyways. Asshole…

. . .

I walked into the hotel room with Gregory, the kids in tow; hours had passed since I stormed away from Hannah and the others. We considered leaving the kids tied up in the forest, but decided against it. Gregory said they'd come in handy.

"Riley…!" Hannah exclaimed, jumping up from her chair.

With a sigh, I glanced over at her. "Hey. Sorry I was out so late," I mumbled.

Ed glanced over from his spot at the table, "You were starting to worry everyone." It was then they noticed Gregory, and the kids. Ed glared at the two, "And what happened?"

I shook my head, "These two decided to attack me when I left you guys. Gregory showed up and helped out."

The kids glared at everyone as we pushed them onto the bed to sit down. Gregory stood by the door to make sure they couldn't leave. "You must be Edward and Alphonse Elric," Gregory said, looking to the two.

Ed nodded. "And you're Master Gregory…?"

"Correct," Gregory replied.

Knowing there'd be a bunch of introductions, I skipped it completely. I was far too impatient. Looking to Gregory, I asked, "What are you here for, Master Gregory?"

"To tell you what happened between the Rebellion Army and Blackburn," He replied. Hannah and Winry seemed a bit annoyed they didn't get to introduce themselves, but ignored it.

Sitting down, I looked him in the eyes. "Start talking then."

Gregory sighed, "Your father took Blackburn in when he found him on the streets. Blackburn had traveled to Dublith to find the Rebellion Army and join. Years passed and your father and Blackburn became closer – like brothers. But Blackburn was also becoming colder. More hotheaded. Less aware of his actions… He killed someone and word got to us fairly quickly. We were weak at the time; Blackburn and I were the only ones that could lead units aside from your parents. We needed Blackburn, so your father waited. He tried to remind Blackburn of the morale he once had. He tried to bring Blackburn back to his side… During the Ishbalin war, was when it happened. Blackburn finally turned. He killed several innocent people. Tried to go after the Rebellion Army when they put a stop to it. Your father was alerted immediately of Blackburn's betrayal. It wasn't long after that, that Blackburn disappeared for years until reappearing in Central. That's when the military got their hands on him."

I sighed. "I see where you're going with this then…," I grumbled.

He nodded. "For the Rebellion Army, and for the people, we have to kill him," Was Gregory's simple, casual response. Like he was talking about food…

"What?" Winry asked in surprise. The kids' eyes widened.

Gregory glanced to her and nodded, "Blackburn's escaped the military too many times. If all was well in the military, he would've been executed." He looked over at Ed and me, "You two should be able to pick up some information from that."

"Yeah," Ed nodded with a small scoff, "The military's full of rats."

Winry looked between us all before shaking her head, "You can't seriously believe Ed and Al are going to kill Blackburn, can you?!"

At first I thought Gregory had ignored her as he looked over at me. But I was wrong. "No. Because _they_ aren't. Riley and I are."

Everyone fell silent.

Ed stood, glaring at Gregory, "Repeat that?"

Gregory sighed. "Blackburn's done a lot of damage to the Rebellion Army. As its leader, it's my responsibility to kill him. As the leaders' daughter, it should be Riley's as well," He explained, looking to Ed.

"No," Ed shook his head, "We already left Riley to her own before and look how that turned out."

"Hey…," I grumbled, pouting. Since when did I need babysitting, by _Ed_ of all people? This was getting way out of hand.

With a small glare, Gregory replied, "I don't expect you to understand."

Ed glared back, "Al and I aren't going to just sit back while you go off with Riley to get Blackburn."

"And why not?"

"Because we've already gotten into this! We aren't quitting now," Ed retorted.

Gregory instantly stated, "Good. You can stay here and watch over Hannah and the other one." I almost snickered at the fact Winry was considered "the other one" but stayed silent when I remembered the situation was serious.

. . .

It was silent as Gregory and I walked. The kids followed us quietly. Gregory had somehow convinced Hannah and Winry to keep the Elric brothers inside while we went to find Blackburn. Much to Ed's dismay, I let them. This was beginning to get a bit personal for me, and it _was_ personal for Gregory. I owed him this chance to finish Blackburn, as he should have been finished long ago. But at the same time, I was feeling a bit guilty. Ed and Al _were_ already in this with me. Sure, at first Ed didn't want to be, but he eventually became part of it. Not to mention, the more we had to fight with us, the easier it'd be to fight. So… I was definitely having mixed emotions about this. But I had to shrug it off and go on.

Wind began to pick up and we stopped; Gregory looking around. Lisa's pigtails smacked at her face as I held my own hair down. Cracking of a branch sounded behind us, and we spun around to see it. I noticed smiles on the kids' faces. They knew what was going on. "Blackburn…," Gregory muttered under his breath.

I looked over at him in surprise and then back to where the branch had cracked. After a few seconds, a man walked out from behind a tree. His hair was black and long, mid-back length probably. Silver strands were here in there. His green eyes were emotionless; blank and cold. He was pale, his face aged and experienced as a few scars lined his features. He wore a long black coat, a grey formal blouse under it, along with black jeans. He was tall and thin, reminding me of my father. He looked to the children, and then to Gregory. His eyes almost unnoticeably narrowed at Gregory; and then he looked at me. I almost went stiff.

_This_ was Radley Blackburn…?

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	33. Trant twa! That's 33!

Hm. Well. Quick update of my life. I have a new camera lens which my mom told me to consider my early Christmas present – one of the highlights of the past two months(Happy Tears Here!) xD

I went to my second Nickelback concert and _rocked. Out._

On other news, this story has been posted for two years! I've come a long way and I love you all lots.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Jessigato:** And here's ANOTHER update! xD Indeed he has. She's a tough cookie.

**Katsekala:** I love the suspense! Mwahaha.

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Here's to hoping.

**Fmagurl123:** Haha, I liked that part. At first I almost did forget their names so I decided Riley would! =D Aww, thank yew! Radley is definitely more in this chapter.

**yumixJaganshi:** WITH THE HELP OF EDO OF COURSE. Kukuku.

**PixieStixys: **Yay, I've done my job then! xD LAWLZ, now _that_ is something I would love to write… "You're drinking your damn milk whether you like it or not!" "Then why don't you have some too?" "…Brat." Ooh, starburst! Yum. X3

**Lani99:** You're back! (Happy Tears) And it's no big deal. We've all been a little busy.  
RAINBOWS? Holy shit!  
IT IS TOTALLY EPIX. I've missed the last few episodes though, which sucks.  
I shouldn't update just so you _will_ find me. Kukuku…

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

I don't own FMA, okay? So no need for legal avengers to stalk me through form of small electronics waiting for the opportune moment to make me a POW.  
I _do_ own Riley and other original content, so if you steal them, there will be legal avengers looking for _you_.

And Sugar We're Going Down is officially my break-up song. Hah. xD

**Chapter Thirty-Three:  
**_The Cycle of Blackburn  
Part One_

There was a painstaking silence in between us all. The kids were happy, but I was tense. Gregory and Blackburn were staring each other down. I wasn't sure what either was going to do, or who would make the first move. I was getting more and more nervous about the whole ordeal.

"Gregory…," Blackburn spoke finally, his voice calm and smooth.

Said man nodded. "Blackburn."

"I assumed Kevin would have come instead," He said before gaining a small smirk, "I'm flattered you've bothered."

He didn't know…? I scowled, glaring at him. Gregory, knowing I was starting to lose my temper, narrowed his eyes at Blackburn. "Kevin couldn't come."

Blackburn raised a brow. "Why not? Has he gone soft already?" He asked.

"He's dead," Was my quick and blunt response.

The man's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his posture as he moved his eyes onto me. "And who are you?" He questioned.

I paused and glanced to Gregory before looking back to Blackburn. "Riley Mauler," I replied.

He took the answer in surprise but quickly covered it. "You're his daughter…" I nodded. "I should have known. You look a lot like him. And what about Claire?"

"We aren't here to talk, Blackburn," Gregory growled.

Blackburn looked to him and sighed. "Very well then," He said before running toward us. Gregory immediately dodged to the side, pushing me back before he did. The speed of Blackburn was surprising; I almost didn't notice him grab the kids. He stopped behind us, untying the children and looking down at them. "Go," Was his simple command. They nodded and took off into the woods. Turning back to us, he transmuted pieces of the ground into a sword. "You don't want to fight, Gregory."

Gregory unsheathed his own sword and Radley knew what Gregory's response was. The two readied themselves and I… Glancing to my pocket, I thought about what I had. There was my knife, but it was dull and useless compared to Blackburn's sword. Aside from that… There were Maes' blades.

No. I wasn't using them. I couldn't.

Glaring at Blackburn, I decided to go with what I used best. Sulfur. Blackburn ran forward, jumping at Gregory. Their swords clashed, so I clapped and rushed forward to grab Blackburn's wrist. I grabbed hold of him but before I could do anything, he jumped away from Gregory and reached for my wrist. I pulled his arm toward me and as I dodged his hand, I threw my leg up to kick at his stomach. Blackburn grabbed my ankle and kneed me roughly in the stomach, causing me to let go of his wrist. He grabbed my neck and swung me into a tree. I flinched, holding my stomach as I tried to stable myself on the ground. I had almost forgotten he trained at the dojo, but that was a rough reminder.

The two men in front of me had engaged back in a fight so I took my time trying to get my breath back to normal. Once I had managed to do so, I rushed back in. Behind Blackburn, I swept my leg around and tripped him over. As expected, he caught himself and flipped back to his feet, but Gregory had already foreseen this. Ramming his elbow into Blackburn's side, he slashed at his face. Blackburn gripped the handle of Gregory's sword and ducked under it, twisting his arm around. Gregory spun under his arm to avoid broken bones, and kicked at Blackburn.

Blackburn dodged back and I had my go at him. I reached my hand forward and he dodged to the side. Aiming for the back of my head, he managed to grab my collar. He yanked me back but I grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of me, my knee positioned in front of his face. Within an instant, he used one hand to grab my knee and push himself up, and his other hand to grab my hair. Yanking me in front of him, he wrapped an arm around my neck tightly and used my hair to keep my head back.

I could feel the clip opening in my hair as Gregory froze stiff. Blackburn's breathing hit my neck as he smirked at Gregory. "You might want to rethink your strategies, Gregory."

"Don't do anything you'll regret later, Radley…," Gregory muttered cautiously.

Blackburn let out a bitter laugh. "Don't try to reach a mutual first name basis with me now. You know I never do anything I regret," He said, tightening his hold around my neck. My brow twitched a bit at this. Leave it up to me to get in this mess. This was Mustang's fault. I was sure of it.

"Don't hurt her," Gregory warned her, holding his hand up for added effect.

I could feel Blackburn's chest moving from his chuckle. "Why? You two are here to kill me, are you not? Why should I let her go?"

"She _was_ your god-daughter," Was Gregory's calm response.

Blackburn fell silent and still. His grip loosened and Gregory gave me a look that told me to act on the opportunity. The thought of using one of Maes' blades crossed my mind but I ignored it. I couldn't use them. But there was nothing else… Quickly, I took one of Maes' blades out of my pocket and shoved it into Blackburn's arms. He let out a yell of pain and as he stumbled back, I snatched the blade from him and ran toward Gregory. Feeling a hand at my ankle, I saw myself falling back to Blackburn. Gregory grabbed at me, but I had already been pulled back. I flipped over to see what Blackburn was doing, and saw his sword coming down at me. I began to flinch.

A loud clang screamed in my ears as I saw a familiar blond in front of me.

"Ed…?" I mumbled.

He didn't respond as his auto-mail blade was pressed against Blackburn's sword. Glaring up at the man, Ed smirked. "That… Was a _really_ bad decision!" He exclaimed as he shoved Blackburn back and swiped at him.

Blackburn dodged back. Making sure he was far enough away, he scowled. "Who are _you_?"

Ed didn't reply to him as he turned and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to a stand. "Thanks…," I grumbled. I was grateful to him, but still slightly annoyed; just how many times was Ed going to save me this week? He smirked slightly and nodded.

We turned back to Blackburn as Gregory reached our side. He wanted to say something to Ed about coming when he told the boy not to; but reluctantly held his tongue. "So this is Blackburn…," Ed muttered, looking him over. I nodded as I glanced down to the blade I was holding. Blackburn's blood covered it. I couldn't help but scowl at this.

Gregory and Blackburn began to fight to their full potential, leaving Ed and me in the corner. They were fast; they didn't lead their own units in the Rebellion Army for nothing. I sighed, watching the two as I waited for an opening to get to Blackburn. "How'd you get here?" I asked lowly.

Ed smirked a bit. "Al distracted Hannah and Winry. He should be here soon."

The ground began to shake and Ed and I braced ourselves. A rock wall shot up in between us, causing us to stumble away from one another. The wall crumbled as Lisa and Mark jumped out from the bushes. I twitched, "When will you two give up?"

Lisa glared at me as Mark glared at Ed. "We have backup now," Lisa said with a grin before taking out a necklace. My eyes widened when I saw a red stone at the end of it. Mark had done the same. Ed and I looked over at each other in surprise.

The Philosopher's Stone…?

Lisa slammed her hands on the ground and the stone glowed. The trees around me shot up in height and quickly extend around me like a cage, blocking the sight of Ed and Gregory. "Damn it!" I muttered as I looked around.

"Try to escape _this_," I heard Lisa sneer from behind the tree cage. Suddenly a branch molded from the "wall" and shot at me. I let out a yelp as I barely ducked, holding my head. Another came at me lower from a different area, and I dodged as quickly as I could.

I listened closely and managed to pick up light footsteps running around. It stopped to my right, and a branch came at me from the same direction. Dodging it, I looked over to the source. "_She has to place her hands on the exact spot in order to shoot the branches there… So if I could follow her steps…_" Clapping, I waited for another move from the girl. A branch molded from behind me, and I spun around, hearing it. I ducked under the branch as it reached across to the other side, and ran to the source. Slamming my hands on the wall, I exploded it.

Lisa let out a loud yell as she was thrown back from the impact, and the walls around me exploded. I saw Lisa trying to get back up, and I quickly looked around. Mark was fighting Ed with a spear; Ed was trying to take him seriously. The kids had some nice abilities, sure, but they were still kids – weak and stupid. I then looked to Gregory and Blackburn. They had heard the girl yell, and Blackburn quickly looked over, giving Gregory an opportunity to knock the sword from his enemy's hands. He turned his attention back to Gregory and I walked over to Lisa. She had passed out by now, and the necklace lay in her hands. The stone, however, was a different story. It had completely disintegrated. I sighed, "So much for that…"

I looked back to Ed to see him punch Mark in the face, getting a bit annoyed. It surprised Ed a bit, but he couldn't dwell on it as Mark was sent flying in the air. He hit the ground hard, and coughed a bit as he began to get up. Blinking in confusion, he looked down at the necklace in his hands as it began to shake. Ed's eyes widened and he rushed forward, "No…!"

But it was too late. Just as he reached Mark, the stone shattered into pieces. "Damn it," He growled out before standing back up. Mark rushed to Lisa's aid and I looked back to Gregory and Blackburn. The two were starting to slow in battle. When their swords clashed again, I could see both of them shaking slightly. Gregory gave in and as Blackburn's sword came down, Gregory slashed at Blackburn's stomach.

Both of them were hit.

Our eyes widened. Both men stumbled away from each other, their swords on the ground. Gregory was holding his shoulder while Blackburn held his stomach. I rushed to Gregory's side quickly. "Are you alright?"

Gregory shook his head, "Ignore this. This is nothing."

Blackburn glared at him, chuckling bitterly. "You haven't changed in the least…," He muttered before clapping. As he pulled his hands apart, a sword began to mold and form from his hand. My eyes widened; how did he manage…? Ed doing it was one thing – He had auto-mail. But Blackburn… I looked to Gregory to see him just as surprised. Blackburn smirked. "Let me explain and wipe the surprised looks off your faces. After years of research, one learns how to manipulate his own body, including their bones," He readied himself to attack as he finished, "That's something only talented alchemists could possibly begin to understand!"

He ran toward us and I scowled. I heard Ed clap at the same time I did as we both headed toward him to attack, we were stopped. A big armor jumped in front of Blackburn, grabbing his wrist and swinging him into a tree. My brow twitched as Ed almost stumbled over. "Al… You make it look easy!" Ed exclaimed.

Al turned to us and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sorry I'm late, Brother."

Blackburn stood from his place on the ground, glaring at Al. "I'm growing sick of people interrupting us," He growled out before slamming a hand on the ground.

The ground shook violently and I grabbed hold of Gregory to keep us both standing. Al balanced himself as well. Ed scowled, feeling uneasy as he ran at Blackburn with his auto-mail blade. He swiped at Blackburn, who blocked it with his bone-sword and kicked at Ed. Ed jumped over the leg and came from below Blackburn, aiming his black at his enemy's neck. Blackburn stepped to the side and elbowed Ed in the face. Grunting, Ed flipped back to catch himself. Blackburn didn't give him much time to retort, as he swung his fist forward. Ed grabbed it in his one hand and Blackburn shoved his sword into Ed's shoulder.

I almost reacted, but had to be rational about it. I began to sneak behind the two as Ed smirked up at Blackburn. "Is that all you got?" He asked. His coat started to rip, showing the auto-mail shoulder.

Blackburn's brows furrowed. "Interesting limb, boy. Tell me; what's your name?"

"That isn't your business," He growled. "Now, Riley!"

I smirked from behind the two. Blackburn looked over his shoulder and noticed me coming at him. It was too late for him to move; I had grabbed the back of his coat. Ed jumped back, rushing to Gregory and Al to avoid the impact. "Now it's my turn," I growled to Blackburn.

What happened within those next few seconds was confusing, and fast.

My hands had heated up, just as I intended. Also as I intended, I exploded his jacket. But what I didn't intend, was for him to grab my arm and break it. With alchemy. Because of the searing pain in my arm, I had lost control and concentration, causing the explosion to be even bigger than my initial plan. Blackburn and I both screamed in pain as we were thrown back.

"Riley!"

I landed harshly, doing a few flips and rolls before I finally landed hard on my back. Groaning, I looked up, holding my arm, and saw Ed already kneeling beside me as Gregory and Al rushed over. Ed cautiously grasped my arm and I flinched, hissing in pain. He quickly let go and gritted his teeth, "Damn it…"

"What happened?" Al asked, confused as he and Gregory reached us.

Gregory sighed. With a shake of his head, he explained to us, "You have to remember. Blackburn is an expert at human alchemy."

"So he… Transmuted her arm?" Al asked.

Ed glared at the ground. "No, Al… He didn't finish all the stages of alchemy. He only got to the deconstruction level when the explosion separated them," He muttered.

I held my arm as I nodded, "Good thing I lost my concentration then…"

We all then looked to Blackburn. Unfortunately, he was still moving. He slowly and shakily got to his feet and rubbed his bloody chin. "Tell me. Who was it… That you tried to bring back to life?" He asked, smirking blankly at Ed and Al. The two tensed and he chuckled bitterly. "You don't need a circle, and he's a hollow armor. It's obvious… But what I don't get," He trailed off a bit as he looked at me, "Is why _you_ don't need a circle."

My finger twitched. "That isn't your business," I growled in response.

"I suppose it isn't," He shook his head as he clapped, "You see, I use stones. You may have heard of them before?" Seeing our narrowed eyes, he nodded. "You have. With these, I don't need a circle…," He said as he slipped out a small yet bulky pouch. My hands heated up. I felt them stinging quite badly, and I winced as I clenched them.

_I looked down at my hands when I felt them stinging a bit. I could faintly see a pink circle on them. "_What_…__?" I thought as I clenched them. When I heard Scar let out a yell of pain, I looked up to see him holding his arm. We all looked over and saw Marcoh with a glowing stone in his hand. "Dr. Marcoh?" Ed mumbled. "Don't you have any sense? You should be long gone by now!" He shouted._

Unclenching my hands, I looked at them to see the same as I did then. A faint, pink transmutation circle. Blackburn noticed it too. He smirked, "Just as I thought… Your father used his ink on your hands, didn't he?" When I glared at him, he nodded. "I noticed it when we perfected it. The ink always reacted to the stones. Your father always was a convenient type of man."

"Shut up…," I growled, growing angry. This asshole was talking down to me; and about my father like they were _equals_. The same way Kimblee talked down to me. The association wasn't helping my temper any.

Gregory noticed this and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Calm yourself. You're useless if you're angry."

Ed sighed, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. You aren't moving from that spot," He said. Ignoring my glare, he said firmly, "You aren't fighting with a broken arm."

"The hell I'm not," I hissed, sitting up more, "This is personal, now."

Ed glared, "Will you stop being stubborn for once?"

I instantly looked at him and replied with, "Will you?"

He went silent. We both stared each other firm in the eye for a few minutes, when he finally sighed. "Fine…"

Smirking, I slowly pushed myself to a stand. Gregory stood as well and I looked over at him, "You're the one that needs to rest. I'm taking care of him."

Gregory didn't believe me, but wasn't going to argue when he had to kneel down to grasp his shoulder better. "Alright. But remember, Riley – He was trained at the dojo as well."

I nodded and looked to Blackburn, who was trying to get some of his strength up. He was oblivious of what we were saying. I walked passed Al, but Ed quickly grabbed my wrist. Looking back, I saw him glaring at me. "Be careful, Riley. I don't care if you want to do this on your own or not. If he endangers you, we're stepping in."

"…," I sighed, "Alright. Better than nothing." And so, Ed let go of me and I turned to face Blackburn, who was smirking at me.

Life was going to end for one us – Then and there.

* * *

One my chapter after this and the Cycle of Blackburn chapters will be over! xD

Chapter Translations!  
_Třicet Jedna_ is Cvech.  
_Trisdesimt Du_ is Lithuanian.  
And this chapter is Haitian Creole!

Be Responsible. ******Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	34. Trettifire! That's 34!

Between this story and my books, I've been writing a lot lately! Huzzah.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Dragon of Twilight:** It most definitely did. They'll just have to do what they can with it! ANGST FOR THE WIN. Kukukuku…

**PixieStixys:** PREPARE FOR THE BATTLE. Hehe, why thank you! I think most of the story's readers like that more than the actual story. xD

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** OH YEAH.

**Yumixjaganshi:** Mwahaha! I'm so evil. Hm… That's a good idea.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: **Yay, I did mah job! xD

**AirMage99:** Edo is back at last! Why thank you. X3

**Katsekala:** Haha! MORTAL COMBAT: STATE ALCHEMIST EDITION! Booyah.

**Rabid Cream Puffs:** Aw, that's alright. Least you're feeling better(Right?)!  
I KNOW, RIGHT? 8D  
Happy Early Birthday, teehee!  
How very right of you.(Insert infamous Cheshire Cat grin here) Hehehehe…  
WOW! Thank you! X3

**Fmagurl123:** Thanks! I'm glad it kept you in suspense. And it wasn't blown off, no. He broke the bones inside her arm. And here's your update, my dear!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

I've never owned FullMetal Alchemist. I never will, either. Sigh…  
But I do own Riley, along with any new content not in FullMetal Alchemist. Sigh…

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Four:  
**_The Cycle of Blackburn  
Part Two_

Blackburn and I stared each other down as we stood across from one another. Hard glares were on our faces as we stood tall. His jacket was ripped in areas, blood along it as he had an arm over his stomach. I was dirty, my clothes a bit torn, as my arm hung limp. The air around us was tense. From the look of the others' faces, they thought we were planning our attacks and strategies.

We weren't.

We were hiding our pain and resisting the urge to break down before the fight even started.

"_It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it huuurts…!_" I screamed in my head. But I ignored the pain in my arm as I readied my hands. Blackburn did the same, and we ran toward each other. I reached forward to grab at his torso, but he stepped backwards and inched to my side, grabbing at me. I ran forward causing his hand to just brush against my hair. Spinning around to face him, I noticed that what hair he had gotten in contact it became hard and brittle. "_Did he just give me split ends…?_!" I thought to myself angrily before glaring up at him.

He could break my arm. He could stab my master. He could injure Ed. He could brainwash two kids into trying to kill us. He could hold me hostage.

But no way in _any_ level of hell there may be, was he going to damage my hair.

Growling, I ran toward him with a new found fury. I elbowed at his stomach and he grabbed my arm, throwing it high into the air. Upon seeing his knee nearing my stomach, I placed my foot on it and pushed myself upward. In the air, I let out a yell as I kicked him square in the jaw. He flew backwards but flipped to catch himself. Running back to me, he swung his fist at my neck. I slapped it away from me and grabbed his arm, swinging him around and toward the ground. Mid-air, he grabbed me by the neck and chin as his foot caught his fall, slowing him down enough so he could turn over and slam me into the ground.

I winced as I felt his palm shove into my neck, and the impact from the ground. He didn't have a tight grasp on my neck, but for some reason I began to feel as though I was choking. My neck started to become numb and cold. Quickly I grabbed his hand, trying to pry it from me, but I was light-headed and started to see black spots. From behind us, I could hear Ed shouting at Al to let him go. "_Damn _it…," I thought before weakly raising my leg. I shoved my foot into his stomach and used my other foot to kick his chest. His grip was let go for a _second _and the feeling instantly went away. Before he could grab me again and start over, I clapped and grabbed his forearm. I twisted it in between my hands which made him fall on the ground beside me. Quickly, I pushed myself up from his arm and squeezed his forearm.

But then I stopped.

My hand shook just as it reached its hot point. I wanted to blow him up, but I couldn't. Not yet… He looked up at me with a glare. "Well? Aren't you going to kill me?" He spoke out.

"What do you know about the Philosopher's Stone?" I asked him firmly, "I know those were samples. Just red water… How'd you know about it?"

"I was given them," He finally replied.

Given? I fell quiet as I tried to think back on what I knew. The homunculi at Lab Five came to mind, along with the red water they had. "…Homunculi," I growled down at him.

He smirked again; God, I was hating that smirk. "You have your mother's intelligence," He said, throwing me off track at first. "His name was Envy," He said casually.

I should've known it was that bastard. When I began to see mini "flashbacks" of Maes' murder, I scowled. "What do you know about Envy?" I exclaimed. The Elric brothers, who couldn't hear our prior conversation, gasped slightly.

Blackburn chuckled, "He supplied red water for me. Said he had obtained the ingredients from a Doctor Tim Marcoh – know him?" My eyes widened. Subconsciously, my hand let go of his arm. Smirking, he grabbed my collar and had me shoved into a tree. He chuckled, "You studied under him, correct? Yes, I know. I know more about you than you think, _Sulfur Alchemist_…"

His hand began to mold again and his bone-sword started to stem from his palm. Glaring, I grabbed the blade and slammed my leg into Blackburn's side. Before he could react, I flipped him over my foot and grabbed his neck. "You're done, Blackburn…," I growled.

"You can't kill me," He said.

In all honesty, I didn't know if I could. I glanced to Gregory, who nodded at me with a soft look. A look that said, "You have to do it." And I did.

When I didn't reply, he smirked and slipped out the pouch he had. My hands stinging badly, I hissed at the surprise. With me off guard, he slammed his arm into the side of my face. I flew to the ground beside him and he stood. Opening the pouch, he said as he dropped the stones into his hand, "You're much stronger than I gave you credit for… But that won't last long."

The stones landed in his hands and he crushed them, absorbing them into his hands. He shot his hands at me, but I rolled away and stumbled to my feet, my hands clenched to avoid contact. Who knew what kind of reaction there would be. He rushed at me, sending his fist at me again. I ducked, swinging my foot at his legs. He jumped over me so I rested my weight to my left hand and pushed up to kick his chin. He grabbed my leg and as he came down, he pulled me toward his fist. Seeing he was aiming for my chest, I twisted my torso back, but my right, broken arm lagged behind. My eyes widened as I tried to stop what was going to happen.

"No…!"

…With Ed…  
(Woo.)

The hands on the clock on the wall ticked loudly, interrupting the silence in the room. Ed sat in a chair against the wall, glaring down at the ground. Winry was watching him from around the corner in worry. They had brought Riley back almost five hours prior and yet, Ed hadn't moved from that chair. He insisted they leave him be; Gregory's wounds needed Winry and Hannah's attention, and Riley needed _someone_ to be there when she woke. Winry wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault. She knew that's what he was thinking. Sighing, she shook her head as she left to Gregory's hotel room. The Elric continued glaring at the ground, thinking back to what had happened…

_Ed's eyes widened but he quickly shut them, blocking his face from the sudden light and sound of the explosion. Al used his body to shield the two people with him, only regretting that Riley wasn't in between them all. The entire area was filled with white light and intense heat, before slowly dying down._

_Before Al could move, Ed shoved his head around his brother's body. Lisa and Mark were peering from bushes in anxiety. Riley was on the ground beside a tree, passed out and banged up. Ed's breath hitched in his throat as his chest tightened dramatically, "Riley!" Pushing himself up from the ground, he ran over to her quickly as he feared the worst._

_Al rushed to the children, asking them how they were as Gregory stood up. He looked around the area with narrowed eyes; where was Radley? Surely he wasn't thrown farther than Riley was. Unsure of this, Gregory set off past the trees, looking for said man as the children shouted in protest to Al's questions._

_On the other end of the area, Ed had kneeled down next to Riley and was checking for a pulse. He let out the long breath he was holding when he felt one. Brushing hair away from her face, he tried to make sure no skin was burnt. "Damn it…," He growled under his breath, "I'm so sorry, Riley…" Standing, he repositioned himself on Riley's left side, picking her up gently as to not further hurt her. As he stood and Al got the kids over to him, Gregory made his way back into the area._

"Brother?" Hearing the boy's voice, Ed looked up at him blankly. "…I thought it would be a good time to give you this," Al said softly, opening the latch of his armor and taking out a beaten up box.

Al held the box out for Ed to take, and he did so. "What is this, Al?" He questioned, looking at the box he now held in his lap.

"A birthday present…," Al paused, unsure of whether or not it was the right time, "From Riley. She gave it to me when Hannah found out she was a State Alchemist. I figured now was the best time, while Riley's still…" Ed narrowed his eyes up at his brother warningly. He didn't like what was about to be said. He denied the implications behind it. Al took notice instantly and reworded himself, "While we're not dealing with enemies."

Ed's brows furrowed down at the box and Al left as he debated over opening it. In a way, opening it agreed with Al – that he should open it before Riley… He shook his head. That wouldn't happen. With a sigh, the blond reached to the box and grabbed the edge of the paper. He began to pull it away slowly, still unsure of whether or not he really wanted to see it yet. The box opened and seeing what was behind the wrappings, Ed couldn't help but have a twitch of the brow.

Now in Ed's lap was a milk carton.

Sighing, he flipped the carton to its side when he noticed writing on it. '_You better like this, Ed. I had to ask Armstrong** and **Maes for help!_' Ed read off. He turned the carton upward and opened the lid. A small and round laminated flipbook was inside it. Ed reached his fingers into the carton and slipped the flipbook out of it. Laying the carton and wrapping on his jacket beside him, he began to look through the flipbook, which turned out to be a photo album. Many photographs were things Ed was surprised to see, things Riley must have snapped when no one was looking. Some were of Al and Winry, some were of Ed.

One photo of a sleeping Ed caused a second twitch. '_She just added that to bug me_,' He thought. He was right. The last photo wasn't a photo but a drawing. It was a lightly sketched picture, and it wiped any expression off of Ed.

The drawing was Al, but not one of an armor or a little boy. It was of Al in flesh and blood, looking to be about fourteen. It wasn't the best picture in the world, but Ed could definitely tell it was Al. A small grin appeared on Ed's face. It was nice to see, despite looking like a drawing done by a nine year old.

Remembering what had happened to the person who had given him the flipbook and why he had been sitting there for so long, his grin turned to a scowl. He gripped the flipbook tighter as he looked over his shoulder at the door to Riley's room silently.

…Back to Riley…

My sight was blinded. My ears were ringing badly. All I could remember was hearing the Elrics and Gregory shout my name while children shouted for someone else. But other than that, it was like everything was dead.

What the hell…?

Oh yeah. Blackburn… The stones in his hand… Marcoh… The explosion.

Gasping for air, I shot up from my laying position and snapped my eyes open. "_A wall…?_" I thought to myself upon seeing a picture across from me, hanging on the white wall. I looked around and saw the hotel room Hannah had gotten. Feeling the pain in my arm, I hissed and grabbed at it. "Son of a bitch…," I growled out.

Hearing the door open, I looked over to see Winry. Her eyes widened and she looked out the room quickly. "You guys, Riley's awake!" She shouted before rushing into the room and reaching my side. "Are you alright?"

With a groan, I shook my head. "I don't even think food's gonna make this one better."

She smiled slightly, "I hope that's mostly a joke. You really scared us, you know…"

I opened my mouth to reply but Hannah ran in and ambushed me first. She grabbed me tightly, crying. I hissed a bit and she immediately backed off. "I'm sorry!" She apologized quickly. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Snorting, I mumbled, "In the loosest use of the word, I am." I looked up passed her and saw Gregory standing there. His shirt was off, as well as his jacket, showing the bandage over his shoulder. "Hey. What happened after the explosion?" I asked.

Gregory stood by the door. "After we were able to see clearly again, Alphonse and Edward went to check on you and the children. I looked for Blackburn. The children are in the hospital, but they should be fine. Edward brought you here where Winry and Hannah took care of you after I did what I could on your arm."

"And Blackburn…?" I asked, unsure whether or not I wanted to hear the answer.

He sighed, "He was gone. I couldn't find a trace of him."

Great. A murderer was on the loose. "But don't even think of going after him again!" Hannah said, frowning. "I called Roy to tell him what happened and he said he would be sending officers after him. Don't worry about that."

I grinned a bit. Was she concerned about my bravery or stupidity? Loud footsteps brought me from my thoughts and we all looked to the door to see Al sliding into the doorway. "You're awake…!" He said as though he was choking up with tears.

Shortly after, Ed came sliding in as well and slammed against Al's armor from not stopping in time. He looked over at me with a smile, "Riley…"

I smirked, waving slightly. "Hey guys," Was my simple response.

They rushed over to my side as Gregory sat at the table. "Riley, we heard you ask Blackburn about Envy," Al mentioned carefully, like he was stepping on eggshells.

The question wiped my smirk off. "Yeah. He said Envy was supplying him with red water, and…" I trailed off as I remembered what he said about Marcoh. I went quiet a moment before looking back up, "I need to make a phone call!" I began to slip out of the bed, when Ed grabbed my collar, glaring at me. I glared back, "Let me go, twerp."

He didn't budge. For once, he seemed to be more insistent than I was. "You're injured, Riley. You're not going anywhere," He said, shaking his head.

"This is important!" I whined.

Sensing a fight about to start, Hannah waved her arms, "Okay, that's enough you two…! Riley, go make a phone call, but be quick and careful, alright?" I nodded and stuck my tongue out at Ed; I won. Before I could tease Ed about it, Hannah spoke up again, "But I'm coming with you."

"What? But that-" Hannah glared at me so I sighed and hung my head in defeat. Ed took this as his cue to smirk; I lost.

. . .

"_Hello_?"

"It's me," I said, holding the phone with my left hand. It felt weird. How the hell had Ed managed to do so much with his left hand after he got auto-mail? Jeez…

Tuning back into the conversation, I heard Roy reply, "_Riley. How are you feeling?_"

I shrugged a bit(like he could see it…) "Like I've been exploded," I responded casually. Roy sighed at this, and I could almost imagine him shaking his head. "I need to ask you something."

"_What is it?_"

"Do you know where Marcoh is?" Silence followed. My brows furrowed, "Mustang?"

He sighed, "_That was information only for the Furher's assistant._"

Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice the "was" part of that. "Oh… Well, is there any way I can talk to him about something? I mean, he is my teacher after all."

Roy didn't respond at first. I was started to get irritated, when he sighed. "_He was found dead, Riley._"

My eyes widened at this. I could feel my arms start to shake. "Riley?" Hannah mumbled, noticing my sudden change in expression.

I ignored her as I spoke into the phone. "When?" I growled out.

"_Shortly after you found Hughes._"

"And you didn't tell me this then?" I shouted into the phone.

Roy sighed. "_Think it about it for a moment, Riley. You were already hurt enough about Hughes. Did you really need to know about Marcoh then too?_"

I fell silent; he was right. Maes was still a fresh wound, honestly, and it was pretty horrible learning about Marcoh. If I found out then… Who knows. "…Thanks," I mumbled blankly into the phone. Roy was about to speak up again, but I had hung up.

"Riley? What's wrong?" Hannah asked, growing nervously impatient.

"…Marcoh's dead."

Her eyes widened. After all, we both were close to him. "…W-Why?" She whispered out. I was about to reply, when someone caught my eye over Hannah's shoulder. My face became hard. Seeing my expression, Hannah turned around to see what I saw and gasped, stepping back.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, walking in front of Hannah as he walked toward us.

Envy smirked. "I heard you killed Blackburn and decided to check it out for myself," He replied casually as he placed a hand on his hip(Looking gayer than _ever_.)

I could feel my hands stinging as my anger rose. Not just my anger though, my adrenaline. The currently biggest enemy I had was standing right in front of me; Just waiting to be blown into pieces. I may have had trouble with killing Blackburn, but with Envy, I would not. "Leave," I growled out.

Walking toward us, he stopped beside me. He smirked and glanced over at me, "How was Maes' funeral?" I snapped. I swung my arm at his face but he managed to grab it just seconds before it hit. "Now, now, Riley… Don't want to get unwanted attention, do we?" He asked before shoving his knee into my stomach. "Besides, you don't want to fight me in this pathetic state."

"Bastard…," I growled, kneeled over from the blow.

Hannah placed an arm on my back as Envy walked away. Sighing, she looked down at me, "Are you alright?" Her voice was slightly shaky, showing just how fearful she was of Envy.

"Fine," I grumbled as I stood straight. "Let's go…"

. . .

"We need to tell Ed," Hannah whined out as we walked closer to the hotel door.

I sighed, stopping to turn around to my friend. "No, Hannah. We don't. If we tell him about that, we'll have to tell him about Marcoh, which will lead to telling him about Maes," I explained dully.

Hannah frowned. "And we can't tell him about Maes because?" She asked desperately.

"Because then he'll go on a rampage to kill Envy," I mumbled before turning back to the door, "And that's my job." As I twisted the doorknob, I asked, "Now let's stop talking about Maes, alright?" Hannah sighed as I opened the door.

Ed and Al looked over when we walked in and as I sat down, Hannah groaned and blurted out, "We ran into Envy!" Way to go, Hannah.

Silence filled the room as Ed looked at me with surprise and anger. "What? What happened?" He asked.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Nothing happened. We just exchanged some words, that's all… It's not a big deal," I said as I downsized the problem.

Ed could tell that was what I was doing. With a sigh, he frowned, "Riley, it is a big deal. What if he attacked you two?"

"He wouldn't cause a scene in a public place like that," I replied. He didn't believe me, but shook his head, not wanting to argue about this. Envy was a sore topic for us all.

Gregory stood from his spot at the table. "Why don't we talk, Riley?" I fell quiet but nodded and stood. We both exited the room and he looked down at me. Examining the look on my face, he sighed. "What was the call you had to make about, Riley?"

"…," I frowned, "I needed to talk to Marcoh." His brows furrowed in confusion before I added, "He's been killed. Most likely by Envy."

His eyes widened at first, but he quickly regained his posture; something taught at the Rebellion Army. "I… I see. I'll alert the dojo of the news when I get back." I nodded at this and he placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he said, "Don't worry. You'll get your revenge one day." With a long sigh, I nodded at this and he stepped backward as he opened the door. The others were waiting patiently. He nodded at them, "I shall be going now. Pleasure meeting you all."

They all bided their goodbyes and he walked away.

. . .

"Good morning!"

The day had started with Hannah grabbing food for everyone, and me sitting in bed. Just like I had the day before, and the day before that.

I was upset.

Marcoh and Maes were both dead, and instead of moving on, I had to sit around for a few days. We could have gone to the Ishbalin Refugee Camp, but what with my current injuries, Ed and Al wanted to stay until I was fully recovered. After hours of arguing about how my arm would take too long to wait for and how we should wait just a few days for my body to gain its strength back, I finally won. Even though I was unhappy I still had to wait around, I won and that was all that truly mattered.

Hannah walked in with a tray of food and I sighed, grumbling about how she had me bed-ridden for the past two days as I cleaned Maes' blades. Or, well, tried to anyway. She rolled her eyes as she as she sat down on the end of my bed, "Get over it. You're supposed to be healing these few days, not roaming the town and causing trouble."

Winry nodded from the table. "She's right, Riley. The more you rest right now, the more you'll recover," She explained, causing me to give her a, 'What the hell are you on?' stare. She had been oddly friendly with me lately and it was getting weirder by the minute.

But I ignored the two as I shook my head. "That doesn't mean I have to lay around all day… I don't have the patience for this," I complained as I snatched the toast from my plate. I munched on it while Hannah and Winry talked about God knows what.

The door open and we saw the Elric brothers walk in, Ed looking like he just woke up. Hannah grinned, motioning to the food. "I thought you'd come here first," She said to them.

Ed rushed over to grab some food, alert at last as Al looked over at me. "How are you feeling?"

"Bored," I sputtered out instantly. And I was. Sitting in bed for so long was hell. In a way, I was mad at Ed and Al for being rational and making me rest; but at the same time, I thought it was kind of nice of them to wait around for me. It wasn't like we were stuck together or anything. Then again, maybe we were, considering Ed now had the military on my ass as well.

Al chuckled faintly as Ed swallowed his bite. "So are we. We're thinking about leaving tomorrow. You up for it?" He asked.

I nodded quickly, "Yes! I want to get out of here already…" He nodded and we continued to eat.

"But, guys…," Winry trailed off, suddenly frowning. We looked over at her in curiosity and she asked, "What about Blackburn?"

Hannah sighed as Ed shook his head. "That isn't our business anymore…," Ed grumbled, "As much as I want to find Blackburn, we need to get to the camp. And like Mustang said, he's got officers looking for him which gives us even more reason to leave as soon as possible."

I nodded in agreement. "Ed's right. We have other things to worry about. If we ever run into him again, we'll handle it then."

Silence was taking over the room, so Hannah grabbed the tray and stood. "I'll be right back," She said lightheartedly as she left the room to put the tray away.

Winry left to shower, so Al looked over at me. "Do you need anything?" He asked.

I grinned, "No thanks Al. I'm fine." He nodded and headed out to go back to their room. Ed paused to look at me, making sure I was okay, before following his brother. "Ed," I said quickly. He stopped and turned. Sighing, I glanced over at him. Finally, I mumbled, "Thanks… I owe you one." That felt awkward.

He blinked, falling silent. Glancing to the door ahead of him, he shook his head. "No, you don't… It was my fault anyway," He grumbled out.

My eyes narrowed. What the hell was that kid thinking? "What? Ed, what's going on?" I asked, sighing.

"…I let you fight him alone. I didn't bother stepping in when I should have and I apologize for that." Ed was about to continue when a shoe was rammed into the back of his head. Eyed widened, he stumbled forward and jerked around. "What was that for?" He shouted, rubbing his head.

I glared. "Of all the things you could apologize for, it's _that_? Whatever you've been eating is bad, you moron…," I said bluntly, laying down as I placed my unbroken hand behind my head. "Now take a 'thank you' like a man and let me sleep in peace. God…"

He blinked several times, eyes wide as he stared me down. "…" Brows furrowed, he began to regain his composure. A small smirk lined his mouth as he glanced downward. "Thanks Riley…" I 'ignored' him, laying there still. He turned to the door and left, hopefully back to normal.

Being alone in the room, I resisted a yawn that rose to my throat. Relaxing, I closed my eyes. The mental image of a dead Marcoh hit me like a bag of bricks. My eyes snapped open in shock and I gasped quickly. Trying to control my breathing, I scowled; that wasn't what I needed. With a small huff of frustration, I rolled onto my left side and closed my eyes. Forcing them to stay shut, it only took me a few minutes to actually fall asleep.

_"Gregory. What is it?" Marcoh asked._

_He stood at the doctor's doorstep with me in tow, grabbing his pants leg tightly. Marcoh seemed stressed and tense; with little sleep. Gregory sighed. "Kevin and Clairessant have been killed, Marcoh," He said simply. Marcoh's eyes widened at this. Before he could respond, Gregory pushed me a forward a bit. Marcoh looked down at me in surprise. "You _are_ her godfather now that Radley isn't around."_

_With a heavy sigh, Marcoh bent down to one knee to look me in the eye. "So you're Riley…," He said. Shyly, I nodded. He gave me a soft smile and said, "My name is Tim Marcoh."_

. . .

_I was sitting at one of the tables in the Military cafeteria, when Maes rushed over. "Riley! Are you free tonight?" He asked, sitting down across from me._

_Looking up from my food, I raised a brow dully. "…Isn't that illegal, Hughes?"_

_His brow twitched slightly as his expression turned deadpan. "I wanted you to babysit…," He replied dully._

_"…Oh. So now I'm all of a sudden not good enough for you?" I asked, 'offended' as I began ranting about how insensitive he was. He sighed, shaking his head as he got up from the table and left, ignoring the fact I was half-yelling. Finally, I shut up and smirked. _That_ was how you got out of babysitting._

Jerking awake, my eyes widened. I trembled slightly as I sweated and shook my head quickly, trying to forget about it. What the hell was with me? I was able to forget about Maes(Well, not 'forget'. More like, 'not think about'), so why did Marcoh send me over the edge? Slowly sitting up, I looked over to the other beds to see Hannah and Winry asleep, and I could see the moon outside the window. Was it really that late?

Thinking about the dream, my breath became hitched again. Damn it. I controlled my breathing as I went into the bathroom to wet a napkin. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I sighed. I shoved the napkin into my face when I realized I was crying. Damn it. Opening the door, I looked outside the bathroom to see Hannah and Winry were still asleep. So much for confiding in them. So, I decided to go to the best person to go to. Someone I knew would be awake, and someone I liked. I cared about. Someone I trusted.

Al.

I silently and slowly left our room before crossing the hall. Reaching Ed and Al's door, I paused and knocked. It was silence for a few seconds, before hearing a muffled, "Come in," reply.

Sighing in relief, I walked in and shut the door behind me. I blinked when I saw Ed looking over from his spot on the bed, his hands behind his head. Damn it. He was still awake. "Riley?" He asked curiously, sitting up in his bed to face me. I stood there stiff, debating over whether or not to say something. Personally I just wanted to leave. "…What's wrong?" He asked, furrowing his brows. I looked downward to the floor, scoffing.

I turned to leave, but just as I grabbed the doorknob, I stopped when Maes' face flashed through my head. I winced a bit, but then began remembering Marcoh as well. My body resorted to trembling again as I covered my mouth to avoid the cry about to come out. "Riley?" Ed asked, more demanding and concerned this time. It was inevitable. I knew I needed to break down. We would be leaving town tomorrow, and once we did, I wouldn't have time to.

Shaking my head, I turned and ran toward him. "R-Riley?" He exclaimed as I landed myself on the bed, my good arm tightly wrapped his torso, my broken arm hanging around it, as I cried. My hand clenched around him and I could feel him tense up almost immediately. Confused and probably terrified, he placed a hand on my back but barely moved as I continued crying.

This was going to be awkward in the morning.

* * *

Almost six thousand words. I think it's one of my longest chapters!

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	35. Trente Cinq! That's 35!

So. I've been thinking. I know it can be spelled either way. Ishval or Ishbal, I know. And I know Ishval's probably the more original term. And I know how crazy I can get about using the original terms. But I'm sticking with Ishbal because that's too strong a habit to bother breaking.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Yeah… Very sad.

**The Psychotic Cherry Blossom:** Before I reply to anything, I just wanted to say that was one of the best reviews I had. Srsly. I'm glad you enjoy the plot and the characters! Yeah, I agree. Ed would've acted even just a little different after dealing with Riley and Hannah. And thank you for the comment on the fight scenes, those are usually one of my biggest worries!

**Katsekala:** Hehe, very!

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Drama! Kukuku…  
Thank you!

**AirMage99:** FINALLY, RIGHT?  
Very sad. It didn't occur to me about writing that until last minute. I AGREE. LET'S GET ALL THE PANS!

**Fmagurl123:** Yeah, truthfully, I had originally planned on killing off Blackburn on the last of that series. But then I had a major idea(basically, I actually tried planning ahead!) And thank you! xD

**Wintermoon13:** Why thank you! I kind of agree. Winry and Ed have actually started to wear on me, but it's still kinda… Bleh.

**Rabid Cream Puffs:** Pull through, my dear!  
Thank you! Yes. The hair's off limits.  
Yay! I made someone happy! OH MY, fruit snacks!

**Warning746:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!  
Ohuhu, nothing naughty~ (Wink Wink)  
Yeah, she should. But she won't yet!  
SHE'S EVOLVING! XO

**Yumixjaganshi:** A very awkward moment, but still fluffy nonetheless!  
Yeah, it's just badly broken. No missing limbs for Riley!

**AcroKat:** Why thank you, I'm glad you think so!

**Kilroy:** Thanks! I have that planned for the longest time, now.

**PixieStixys: **NO YOU DO NOT. THE HAIR'S OFF LIMITS.  
I'm a writer, I can make the impossible possible you know!  
Thank you!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!**

Oh my damn. Thirteen reviews! I feel so loved.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I do own my own original content and characters, though!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five:  
**_Doubts_

I groaned a bit, shifting around to get comfortable. Unfortunately I couldn't do that; it felt like a large lump under my back. "_What the hell…_," My thoughts trailed off when I remembered what had happened. Opening my eyes, I saw Al sitting in the bed across from me, watching me as his shoulders shook slightly. I looked up and realized _why_ I felt like a Hunchback.

I was laying on Ed.

He lay on his back, an arm by his head with a hand over the edge(with his stomach poofing like it usually did), as he snored lightly. I was toward the end of the bed, lying on his stomach and his legs. Looking to my side toward Al, I felt my sight going side to side as Ed's stomach lifted my head up and down… Up and down… I groaned again. No wonder my back was hurting. Slowly sitting up, I rubbed my head as I looked over at Al. "Good morning…"

Al chuckled. "Good morning. I see you didn't leave last night."

Remembering he was a soul attached to armor, I scowled. "My back's killing me…," I said as I stretched a bit.

Ed sighed, feeling the open air hit his now bare legs and stomach. "Al, give me the covers back," He grumbled sleepily.

We looked over at him and I snorted. "Wake up, Ed-o," I said as stood from the bed. Feeling the movement, he began to wake. He opened his eyes and looked around a bit before noticing me. Eyes widened a bit, he quickly grabbed the covers off the floor and covered his bare torso and underwear. I rolled my eyes, "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Ed."

He blushed slightly at that but scowled. "What are you doing in here anyway?" He asked. So he didn't remember. Good. That would make it easier on me. But before I could rejoice, realization struck him when he remembered.

Knocking sounded on the door, followed by Hannah's worried tone, "Guys?… Riley isn't in the room. Have you seen her?" I walked over and opened the door; she blinked in surprise. "Oh… You're here."

Nodding, I placed a hand on my hip and said casually, "Came to make sure they were ready."

"Right," She mumbled before nodding, "Well, um, we're all packed." Oh yeah. We were leaving that morning. Looking to Ed and Al, I waved slightly as I left the room with Hannah, who began smirking. "You liar," She accused, pointing at me. I raised a brow as she continued, "Winry saw you leave the room last night. Where'd you go _then_?"

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck. "I was having dreams about Marcoh and Maes, and talked to Ed about it," I replied.

Hannah gave a sigh of relief, "So you told them?"

"No." She pouted and I smirked, "Sorry. But they don't need to know right now." She didn't agree with me and I knew she didn't; but at the same time, she wasn't going to bother telling them either. She knew how they'd react, and she didn't want to be the one to deliver the news. Neither did I.

We walked back into our hotel room and I went to take a shower. I was quick about it, knowing we all wanted to leave, and wrapped a towel around me once I had finished. I towel dried my hair, careful not to use my broken arm too much. I threw my jeans and yellow shirt on quickly before fixing my hair(which was hard to do considering I only had one hand at my disposal). Fortunately, the split ends weren't too noticeable. That was good. Putting it all in the clip, I sighed and jumped up on the counter. Sitting on the counter, I reached over and grabbed the bandages. I slowly and carefully wrapped it around my broken arm, before glancing to the sling.

I wasn't wearing _that_. My arm could have been broken in every possible place it could've been broken in… It almost _was_ broken in every possible place it could've been broken in. I was not wearing that sling. It would be too inconvenient if something happened and I needed to move quickly. So, no. I wasn't wearing it.

I exited the bathroom with the sling in my hand and shoved it into my bag. Hannah noticed this and shook her head at me, but didn't say anything. "We ready?" I asked, looking over to the two girls.

Winry held her bag over her shoulder and nodded, "Yep!"

Grinning, Hannah nodded, "Ready."

We left the room and waited for the brothers. Only a few minutes passed, and they walked out of the room. "Alright. Let's go," Ed said, hands on his hips.

Winry and Hannah lead us as Al followed behind. Before I could start walking, Ed stopped me. "Riley. About last night…"

If Ed thought the others couldn't hear him, he was wrong. _Dead _wrong.

They all stopped in their tracks as if someone glued their feet to the floor. Spinning around, they looked between Ed and me incredulously. "You… Last night…," Winry trailed off before widening her eyes and covering her mouth. "_That's_ why you left our room?" She shouted at me.

Hannah seemed confused at first, but her eyes widened and her mouth opened in realization. "Oh… Oh. _OH!_ Riley! Why didn't you tell me?" She asked in shock.

Al only chuckled.

I felt my face heating up dramatically as I jumped back; they _seriously_ thought _that_? Glaring down at Ed, I shouted, "Why don't you say that any louder? Maybe Master Gregory would like to hear too!"

"What's the big deal?" Ed asked with a scowl. He heard Al chuckle and looked over to see Winry and Hannah staring in shock with light blushes on their cheeks. His eyes widened as he blushed as well; waving his hands frantically, he shook his head, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Mhm…," Winry mumbled skeptically, her lips pursed together as she turned with her arms crossed. Hannah and Al turned to follow her, chuckling to themselves.

Sighing, I glared at Ed, "Way to go." He glared up at me and I shrugged, "And forget about last night, alright? I was just over-thinking things." I knew he didn't believe me, but he wasn't going to push it thankfully. With a sigh, he nodded and we both left to catch up with the others.

. . .

"Relax Riley… It's not like you're missing the prevention of the apocalypse," Hannah said sarcastically. Hannah, Winry and I were sitting on a big green tractor that was parked near a military-run train. Winry had hotwired the thing while Ed and Al went to investigate the train; Hannah and I were just left to rot. Well, I was. Hannah _wanted_ to stay on the tractor with Winry. I on the other hand was forced to. 'It's dangerous,' Ed said. 'If a fight breaks out, your arm will just get hurt worse,' Ed said.

Che.

I looked over to Hannah as I rested my chin on my hand. "Yeah, says the girl who _could_ miss the prevention of the apocalypse and not care," I retorted through gritted teeth.

Before either of us could continue, Winry said, "There they are." We looked to Winry to see she was looking back to the train. Turning to look with her, we saw Ed and Al coming from under the train.

I began to squint when I saw two more with them. My eyes widened at who I saw; Rick and Leo? Ed took the lead of the group, when he ran into Kain Fuery. The two froze and looked at each other in surprise. When I saw Kain falling to the ground and his glasses flying through the air, my brow twitched. Was that really necessary? Ed and Al were about to continue, when another soldier walked around the train corner. "Hey…!" He exclaimed.

Winry grinned, backing the tractor up closer to the train. "Need some help?"

The four spun around to look at us and their expressions went from confusion to incredulousness. "How'd you get that? Did you steal it?" Al asked her.

Pouting, Winry slammed her hand on the tractor body. "Of course I didn't! They said I could have it if I fixed it," She replied.

I scoffed, "Yeah, after they ran out of their house when they heard her _trying_ to steal it…" Hannah chuckled as Winry glared at the back of my head, muttering about unneeded details.

"What the hell?" We looked to the new voice and I frowned when I spotted Havoc. In all my years of working with the military, Mustang's unit had become people I cared about. With a passed out Fuery on the ground and a surprised Havoc seeing us flee the area, it was hard not to feel like crap.

Fortunately and unfortunately I couldn't dwell on the matter much longer because as soon as Ed sat beside me, Winry floored the gas. I yelped, feeling myself swing forward and over the edge of the tractor. As I felt Ed grab the back of my jacket, I grabbed the edge single-handedly to not fall even more. Jerking my head around, I glared at the back of her head, "Cripple Killer!" Winry only smirked. Bitch…

. . .

Now that all of us were, for the most part, safe in the tractor, we were driving along the railroad tracks. Winry was being giddy and I couldn't tell if it was because she had a tractor, or she knew where Ed and Al were, or because she almost had me thrown to my death. I was betting on all three. Ed had told us what was going on and why the kids were with us by this point.

"I need to know something Winry," Ed started, looking to the floor of the tractor blankly. I almost scowled; another dull moment of Ed proving to us that he can indeed think _too_ much. "How much longer do you plan on tagging along?"

Like a toilet, Winry's giddiness just… Flushed out of her body. "If it weren't for me, you'd be captured by now," She replied through tightly pursed lips.

Ed stood quickly, glaring over the engine block to her. "I had it under control!" He shouted.

Scoffing once more, I shook my head, "What were you planning on doing, then?"

Winry cackled as the Elric jerked over to glare at me. "What the hell, are you two tag-teaming now?" He exclaimed. I grinned; that sounded like fun actually. I began to imagine Winry and I beating up Ed as a tag-team as Ed turned serious again. "That's not the point," Ed started, "I don't want you out here with us." Ed began talking about killing and how he's killed before. At that point, I had already stopped my fantasies but I didn't want to hear what they were saying, so I just tuned them out anyway. It wasn't until the atmosphere lightened slightly and Ed had said, "As I was saying, I don't want you out here, Winry… I don't want Hannah and Riley tagging along either…"

Time froze.

"**What**?" I shouted, glaring up at the soon-to-be-slaughtered Edward Elric.

The others winced at the sudden shout but Ed only sighed, shaking his head at me. "You aren't in the right condition to come with us, Riley," He began to explain, but I wouldn't have it.

"The hell I'm not! You've gotten me too far into this miss, Ed! What do you expect me to do, just wonder back into Headquarters and get a new job from Mustang?"

He scowled, looking up at me. "I don't even want you getting another job!" Was his response.

Rick and Leo watched us silently. "Then don't go on about me not coming with you two!" He was about to continue but I glared. "I don't need you babying me, Ed! I'm perfectly capable of surviving! You know what? Fine! If you're so insistent on just dropping me, then as a State Alchemist it's my job to turn you in!"

Ed's eyes widened before he regained his composure and glared at me. "You're being a little immature, Riley!"

"Immature, my ass!"

"GUYS!"

Ed and I spun around to look at Hannah. She wasn't looking at us, but ahead of the tractor, pointing in the same direction. We turned to see what she saw, and spotted a train. Coming toward us. On the tracks. Al gave a small whine as Ed's eyes widened again. "Winry!"

Winry gripped the steering wheel tightly, glaring down at the train. "Still think I'm scared of a little danger?"

We all let out screams as the train almost towered over is. Within less than a foot away from the train, Winry veered to the left and skimmed the side of the train as we drove on the side of the tractor. "Are you crazy?" I shouted once we were safely back on four wheels. Or, well, considering who was driving, maybe not as safely as I would've liked.

. . .

"Che, if Winry keeps driving, I don't _want_ be around anymore," I stated under my breath with a large scowl on my face. We were at the edge of Kisshua, just as the Ishbalin Elder told us. We hid behind a pile of junk to see a hut like building.

Winry glared at me after hearing my comment as Hannah shook her head. Ed sighed in annoyance and turned to stare me in the eye. "Will you drop it already, Riley?" He growled out in a whisper.

I glared back, frowning deeply. "No I will not drop it. How dare you think you could just drop me off somewhere and expect me to go along with it!" I argued. Sure, it probably wasn't the best time to start, but I was pissed. How could he think I'd stop traveling with him – with them? There's no way.

"Riley, we can talk about this later!" Ed stated, growing impatient.

"Fine. We'll wait. But I swear, Edward Elric, the longer you try to postpone this, the longer the conversation will be when I tie you down to railroad tracks and _force_ you to talk!" I replied angrily, glaring him square in the eye to show him I meant every word.

It was quiet as Ed shook his head at me and looked back around the pile of junk. Feeling a hand grab my sleeve, I looked over just as Hannah pulled me toward her. I fell to the ground in front of her and looked up to see her glaring down at me. "Are you stupid?" She hissed out, "We're in the middle of something! This is not the time to threaten Ed!"

"But-"

"But nothing! Now shut up and get back to making sure Ed doesn't blow himself up," She growled at me. I sighed, knowing she was right. We both turned back to the others and fell quiet when we only saw Winry and the boys. "W-Where'd they go?" Hannah asked in a small voice. Scowling, I pulled away from Hannah and took off around the pile. Winry and Hannah both called my name in protest but I ignored it as I ran toward the hut. Hannah ran after me and before I could reach the house, she slammed into me. We both grunted and groaned as the ground hit me back and Hannah rolled off. "You're ridiculous, Riley," She mumbled out, coming to her knees.

I sat up to retort, but never did. Three soldiers stood in front of us, looking down at us dully. Two were soldiers I knew quite well.

"B-Breda… Riza…," I mumbled out in surprise. Breda held out his hand and I sighed, glancing to Hannah who was helped up by the soldier I didn't know. Reluctantly, I grabbed Breda's hand and let him pull me to my feet.

Riza walked over to the building and aimed her gun at the covering of the doorway. With one shot, she lowered the gun slightly and demanded, "Alright you two. Come out peacefully!"

Seconds later, Ed's head popped out and he glared over at Riza. Al came out from behind him and Ed shouted, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU COULD'VE KILLED US!"

Relaxing her grip on the gun, her firm gaze didn't falter. "You think missing was an accident?" She asked.

"If you knew it was us, then why'd you shoot in the first place?" He exclaimed.

Instantly, Riza snapped back with, "That shot was for the bruise you gave Fuery." Hearing this, I shrugged and glanced away. He deserved it if that's what it was. Ed and Al stopped protesting and began to shift around nervously. They wouldn't admit it out loud, but they agreed. It was a well-deserved surprise.

. . .

"Where's the Colonel?" Ed asked.

He and Al were sitting at a table, across from Riza and Breda. Hannah and I sat at the end of the table, in between them all. "He went to Central with Officer Falman," Breda explained, resting his elbow on the armrest of his chair. He frowned at us all, which made me feel kind of guilty.

"So…," Ed started, smirking as he looked away with crossed arms, "He leaves you guys here to clean up his miss while he runs back home. Sounds great." Ed let out a grunt of pain when my booted foot slammed into his kneecap. He glared at me from the side of his way, while I glanced away. I'd never admit it to anyone, but even though Mustang could be a pain in the ass sometimes, I still respected him. Hearing Ed badmouth him was annoying, to say the least. _Especially when Maes' funeral comes to mind, then it really pissed me off_…

Riza looked up from paperwork and stared firmly at Ed. "Is that what this is about, then? The Colonel's actions toward the Ishbalins, is that why you attacked the train?" She asked.

Ed scowled, looking away from her and me both. Al was the one to speak up this time. "It's more complex than that. But, you don't have to suppress them, you know. They weren't planning on starting a war, they just want somewhere safe to live."

"Don't misunderstand," The female officer said calmly, looking to Al now. "There weren't any Ishbalin casualties after the Colonel stepped in. And _they_ were the ones who were killed first. Yoki, a former officer – I think you know him," She paused to see if her assumption was correct.

The scowl on Ed's face disappeared and he turned back to the table. "Yoki? You mean that buffoon from Youswell?" He asked in surprise. Hannah and I shared a confused glance and I merely shrugged, listening back in to the conversation.

Riza glanced to Ed and replied, "He was serving as an informant when somebody from their side opened fire. The mood was tense and his death took it over the edge. But the Colonel stepped forward and with a controlled display of power, he made a barrier and took away their will to fight. Had he not acted so quickly, there would've been untold casualties on both sides."

I didn't bother saying anything at this point. Every time I moved, Breda looked over like a hawk and his gaze only made me feel really small (And not to mention, guilty). "Heh… Guess a soldier can keep things innocent every once in a while," Ed said with a bitter smirk.

This time, Hannah yelped slightly and I glanced away again, mumbling a small apology.

"You're dogging on the Colonel just cause he's military, Ed?" Breda asked, leaning over the table slightly, "Don't forget you're a soldier, too." I jumped a bit; it was one of the few times he had bothered speaking. Ed glanced away with a scowl.

Riza decided to speak again. "We've decided to transfer most of the Ishbalins to the southern encampments. But first we must find the one responsible for Yoki's death and give a fitting punishment. To that end, we're holding several here for interrogation."

"There's an old man with them, right?" Al asked, leaning forward in anticipation. "The man who used to live in the hut where you found us?" The two officers were quiet for a moment and Breda let out a light sigh. I was guessing they did. They led us outside the tent "room" and began to lead us where the man was, but I stopped.

I couldn't do this anymore.

The others noticed I wasn't following and turned to see what was going on. "Riley?" Hannah asked.

Turning my gaze from the ground, I looked to Ed and Al, "You guys go ahead, alright? I think I'll wait it out here."

Ed was surprised, but his expression quickly turned to annoyance. "This isn't about what I said earlier is it, Riley?" He asked, scowling slightly as he prepared for another argument.

But I shook my head. "No, it's not… I'll just wait here for right now," I said. The three I came here with shared a confused glance, but looked back over at me curiously. Riza and Breda waited for them, so Ed and Al turned to continue on their way. Hannah sighed and walked back to my side. I didn't really think she wanted to go anyway.

Once they were out of sight, I let out a loud sigh as I quickly bent down, grabbing my knees as I crouched. "R-Riley?" Hannah asked, a nervous grin on her face.

"…" I glanced up at her from the side of my eye. In a small tone, I muttered out, "Do you think we'd be better off not following Ed and Al anymore?"

Hannah groaned. Shaking her head, she rested her hands on her hips and looked down at my crouching figure. "This is about what Ed said earlier, isn't it?"

I was silent for a moment. Was it? I mean, that had to be part of it. But it wasn't all. Shaking my head, I wrapped my arms around my knees. "No… Kind of. I've been thinking a lot. I'm not like Ed. He hates the military and everybody in it. I'm… I'm part of the military. And I have friends that are, too. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have gotten involved," I grumbled out, hiding the bottom half of my face in my arms.

With a small sigh, Hannah kneeled down and sat beside me. "Where's all this coming from? I thought you always knew your views on the military were different than Ed's, why does it matter now?" She asked in confusion.

To be honest, I was just as confused as her. "I… I don't know. It just really bugs me," I said, scowling down at the ground in embarrassment. I was making a fuss over nothing.

It was silent between us for several minutes, when Hannah positioned herself in front of me. Placing her hands on my shoulders, she looked me in the eye. "Riley… Do you still want to be a State Alchemist after all this is over with?" I stared her in the eyes, unsure of what to say.

_Did I… Still want to be part of the military that's caused so much chaos?_

And why, in trying to find out my answer, did I keep thinking of how Ed would react to my decision?

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	36. Harminchat! That's 36!

I have nothing to say, really. I mean, I could advertise my gnarly new stories - the Greek Mythology fic, The Contego, which I worked my butt off on; or the Inuyasha, Kouga/OC fic, A Girl Named Arrogance.

But this isn't a chapter for all that! Ahahaha..!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**AirMage99:** Why thank you! Haha, she needs to answer quick!

**Fmagurl123:** Yay! Haha, I loved that part. They have such dirty minds… Tsk tsk. Me too. I don't often put Hannah in the chapters as much as I did, but I'm hoping to change that in the next few chapters.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Tons and tons!  
Dx  
Aw, me too.  
And here you go, my dear!

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** A Winry/Riley Tagteam would do loads of damage, don't you think? xD

**Warning746:** Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. x.x  
SHE TOTALLY IS A POKEMON. DOOD, THAT'D BE FREAKING AWESOME!

**Mizunou:** Aw shucks! My very own tractor!… You can keep the Winry bit though. I'd prefer my tractor to remain in one piece.  
And she totally is. 8D

**yumiXjaganshi:** HAHA. I couldn't imagine it worded any other way.

**Katsekala:** Drama galore! xO

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

I don't own FMA. I do own Riley. Bluurg, my disclaimer was no fun this chapter. Dx

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Six:  
**_Why Couldn't He Have Said So Earlier?_

Pictures.

That was all we had been looking at. Pictures of Yoki, the dead guy. I was interested at first but you can only look at the same dead guy for so long before it just gets boring.

I was sitting backwards in a chair that was placed in the corner of the room. My elbows rested on the back of it so I could have a place to lay my head. I still needed to think over some things. When they got back, Ed tried asking what was wrong but Hannah just led him away. I was sick of being in this rut, if that's what you could call it, and I needed enough time to think my way out of it. I still hadn't been able to answer that one simple question.

_Placing her hands on my shoulders, Hannah looked me in the eye. "Riley… Do you still want to be a State Alchemist after all this is over with?"_

I didn't know. I mean, okay, yes. I did want to stay a State Alchemist. But for some damn reason a part of my mind kept telling me I didn't. But I did. Since Maes was… I'd take over his job of supporting Mustang. That didn't sound so bad, really.

But on the other hand… I'd gotten attached to Ed and Al…

"This is so confusing!" I shouted, grabbing the edges of the back of the chair and slamming my forehead onto the top of the back. "It's so stupid!"

"…Riley?"

Quickly, I looked up in surprise. Everyone was staring over at me in confusion. "H-Huh?" I mumbled, blinking a few times. "Are we leaving now?" I asked.

Hannah sighed, "You're pathetic, Riley." I glared at her as I stood from the chair. Just as I had suspected, we began to leave as Al filled me in. Apparently it was Lust that killed Yuki, or whatever the hell his name was.

When we left the tent again, we heard some protests going on. Looking over, we all saw Winry along with the kids fighting against soldiers. They all stopped and looked over when they heard us come out. "Winry?" Ed asked, confused.

. . .

"Rick, Leo, listen to me. I managed to get you guys acquitted. You're no longer in any trouble. The rest of your people will be released from the station, too."

Ed, Al, Winry, Hanna, Riza, Breda and I stood around Rick and Leo outside the area. Ed was explaining the situation to them and I was taking in every moment of what was going on for once. "But they're still going to send you to the camps," Al added.

"If you two want, you can go live in Resembool. I've got permission," Ed offered.

Scowling, I glared into the air as I mumbled about it being dangerous to live in the same city Winry probably drives in. She glared at me once more as Hannah tried not to laugh at us. "No thanks," Leo said firmly, "We'll go live with the others."

Ed smiled slightly and nodded. "Your call," He said.

"And where are you off to, now?" Rick asked, looking up at the blond.

Acknowledging the question, Ed looked down slightly. "We're going after Scar," He replied seriously. Hearing the ever familiar name began bringing back a whole lot of memories. Bad _bad_ memories…

_Ed and I stood there on the side walk in Central, ignoring the rain, as we looked over at the man that stood several feet away. Scar's eyes narrowed as he looked over at me. "You. We meet again…," He stated firmly, not bothering to say anything to Ed._

_I nodded grimly. "So it seems," I mumbled in reply._

_Ed's eyes widened, looking between Scar and me. "You two… Know each other?" He exclaimed in shock as he looked over at me._

_Letting out a sigh, I glanced away from them both. "We… Have a past," I said, causing Ed's eyes to widen even more._

_"You promised we would be together forever," Scar suddenly said, glaring at me._

_My eyes widened a bit but I quickly responded, shaking my head, "It was never meant to be! We're just too different."_

_Ed shook his head, waving his arms around angrily. "Woah, woah, woah! When the hell did this happen?" He shouted, looking at Scar, and then back at me in a panic._

_We ignored him though(Of course) as Scar stepped forward, holding his arms out in a begging manner. "Riley, my lurv! We can make things work!" He shouted, looking at me._

_I paused, looking at him with sad eyes. After a moment, I nodded, happy. "Scar!" I exclaimed, going starry eyed as I ran toward him._

_"Riley!"_

I could feel any and every bit of oxygen I had _leave_ my body immediately as my eyes began to widen. Falling to my knees, I clutched my head tightly, staring at the ground with a horrified expression. "Noooo… No no no… Take it back, take it back!" I whispered out, grasping my head tighter with every second that passed.

"R-Riley?"

Whoever said my name surely wasn't expecting me to jerk forward, hugging them tightly. I sobbed into their chest as I screamed, "I DON'T WANT HIS BABIES!" I paused, jerking away to see the terrified, red face of Ed. Grabbing his collar, I stared at him hopefully through teary eyes. "If I ever have Scar's baby, promise me you'll kill it!" I shouted, shaking him.

Any color that was on Ed's face disappeared.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"

. . .

Ed, Al, Hannah and I sat on the same green tractor we came in on. _They_ were all laughing hysterically. Ed was laughing so hard, he had to clutch his aching stomach. Al was kind enough to try not to, but in the end he still couldn't resist. My brow was twitching continuously as I glared at the ground. I could feel the light blush lining my cheeks but I ignored it.

I had told them about _that _dream. I had to! Ed was about to start lecturing me about _sex_. **Ed** was. The boy who blushed when I smacked my ass and said something along the lines of, "You wish you could touch this." We were both relieved, though. He didn't have to give me a lecture, and I didn't have to hear it from him.

Winry was going back to Central with Riza. She said she wanted to see Maes. I couldn't tell her the truth, and neither could Riza really.

Finally the others began to calm down and I glared over at them. "It wasn't funny," I hissed, glaring at them intensely.

"Oh Riley, my _lurve_, it was hilarious," Hannah said, patting my shoulder as she sat down beside. I blushed more and looked away from them all, muttering about revenge that was soon to come to them. "So, where are we going now?" Hannah asked, ignoring my mutterings.

Ed sat behind the wheel and looked to the direction the train was in. "I guess we'll start in Ishbal."

Al sat across from Hannah and me as he looked to Ed. "Let's hope Scar hasn't created the stone yet," He said.

Looking back at him, Ed nodded. "Yeah…," He turned back to the wheel and smiled a bit, "It feels strange to say that, since the stone's what we were looking for."

It was quiet for a moment, and I realized it was now or never. "Hey, Ed," I mentioned, looking ahead of me thoughtfully. Once I felt him glancing at me, I continued. "Do you want Hannah and me to go?" Ed frowned and I could tell he was about to ask me not to start. But I stopped him. "I'm being serious," I said, turning to look at him over my shoulder.

Silent, Ed looked away and back to the wheel. He thought over his answer before sighing slightly. I watched him open his mouth to reply and I leaned forward in anticipation. But instead of replying, he closed his mouth and looked downwards a bit. "So this must be the ignition," He mumbled in wonder.

"H-Hey!" I shouted angrily, glaring at the back of his head, "Answer my question!"

Ed grinned a lopsided grin and reached toward it, "Let's hope I'm right!"

"Asshole!" He flipped the switch, _ignoring me_ still. As soon as he flipped the switch, the tractor took off. We all let out screams of terror as it swerved right and left.

. . .

"Damn Winry… She needs to be more careful when she's doing a tune up!"

"Winry? Damn _Winry_? You're the one that drove it into a cliff!"

Where were we? Who knew. Ed was driving, when he hit a cliff. The tractor was pretty much busted. And Ed was blaming _Winry_. Becoming flustered, Ed looked up at me defensively, "It swerved and headed to the cliff too fast! What was I supposed to do?"

Glaring down at him, I hissed out, "Put your hands back on the wheel and steer _away_!"

Scowling, Ed looked away from me, glaring at the tractor. "It's this stupid thing…," He grumbled, slamming his hand onto it.

Electricity shot through the engine and Hannah and I hid behind Al. Just as we thought, the tractor exploded. Once the smoke died down, I saw Ed with burnt and puffed up hair. As funny as it was, when I remembered the fact the tractor was broken, I began to glare at him from behind Al. Noticing my glare, he slowly glanced over at me. "Before you do something irr-"

A loud smack echoed through the area after I slammed my fist into his cheek. "YOU IDIOT!"

. . .

I sighed, looking at the different camera equipment the store was selling. We had just gotten there a few minutes beforehand and Hannah and I slipped away. We were getting tired of the arguments. Ed was in a fowl mood and Al was being… Well, honest really. The area around us was still desert-like but we had finally found human civilization.

"Maybe I should get something," I mumbled, holding up a box of film. It had been a while since I was able to use my camera. When I heard nothing from Hannah, I looked over curiously so see her staring down the road. "What is it?" I asked, walking over.

Slowly, she pointed up, "Look…"

Once I reached her side, I look in the direction she pointed and began twitching. From the sky, I could see long blue glowing spikes. Alchemy, to be exact. "What are those two doing?" I shouted, taking off in that direction.

"H-Hey, lady, you didn't pay!" Not wanting to pay for it, Hannah quickly followed me down the road. We ran until we finally reached Ed and Al. My expression turned deadpan at what I saw.

Several fists, arms and columns of rock had erupted from the ground in random places along the road. But that wasn't what surprised us most. Al was contained inside metal bars, while Ed was being held in the air by a large fist. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shouted, running closer to stand between the two.

Neither replied to us. Instead, Al shouted to Ed, "If you weren't so stubborn, we wouldn't even be here! We could've asked Dad for help!"

Ed became angrier than his typical temper tantrums and I stepped back, knowing this was a sore subject for the brothers. "Are you kidding? I'll never ask that bastard for anything!" He shouted back.

Al stuck his head out the bars with an instant reply. "And that's what makes you stubborn!"

"Shut up," Ed grumbled. Clapping, he removed the hand as he scowled. "Do whatever you want," He told Al before turning around and walking off. He walked away quietly, ignoring Al's protests.

I sighed, watching as Ed left us all there. "Al, you need to go-" Hannah stopped when she looked back to face him, only to see that he, too, was gone. My brow twitched when I noticed this too.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

. . .

I panted slightly, running down paths and alleys to find one of the Elrics. Hannah and I split up, hoping that between us, we'd be able to find the both of them. So far, I was having no luck. There was no blond or armor in sight.

Sudden jerking and wind brought me back to reality and just as I began paying attention to what was in front of my eyes, I landed hard on the ground. Groaning, I winced as I began to pull myself up. Of course… Once I got on all fours, I pulled a knee to my chest. There was a large red area along it now. Of course… Sighing, I used the knee to push myself up and I stood back up, looking around the area. They had to be around there somewhere.

I began to give up when I spotted a flash of yellow down the road.

Running down the road, I got a closer view of him. He stood by a railing that showed the view of the city, hands in his pockets. I began to wave an arm back and forth. "Ed!" I shouted, running toward him.

He began to blink when he acknowledged his name and turned to see me. "Riley…"

Finally I reached him. Panting, I walked over to his side and placed a hand on the railing. "Jeez, Ed. You're harder to find than Al!" I complained, resting my weight on the railing.

Ed looked back to the city as he replied calmly, "Where is he, anyway?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. He took off shortly after you did," I explained with a shrug. He sighed in disappointment and I watched him for a few minutes. He seemed to be thinking pretty hard. "I guess you two used to fight about your dad a lot, huh?" I asked, looking to the city with him. Feeling his gaze on me, I glanced over at him and smirked, "He's just worried, you know."

"…Yeah," He murmured, turning back to the view of the town.

A few moments of silence passed, so I grabbed the railing and stretched, yawning. "Well, let's get going then! We should see if Hannah and Al found each other by now," I said, letting go of the railing and turning to walk. Ed turned toward me and I began heading down the steps.

"Riley…"

I stopped walking and turned back, looking up and over at the blond. My brows furrowed when I saw that he seemed to be thinking over what he was going to say – or ask. "Yeah?"

He paused before walking over. Reaching me, he looked down at me, square in the eyes. "What's been going on with you, lately?"

I said nothing. Because I didn't know _what_ to say. How was I supposed to respond to that? We continued staring each other in the eyes; he was trying to find an answer and, well, so was I. "…Nothing," I finally replied before starting to walk again.

Before I could take another step, he grabbed my arm and jerked me back around. He frowned, holding my shoulders to keep me in place. "Tell me what's going on, Riley," He said firmly. I could tell he wasn't going to let it go this time.

"…" Sighing, I pushed his hands off. "I don't know. I've just been thinking too much."

"About what?" He asked.

I turned around and let myself fall onto the step I was standing on. He knelt down and sat beside me quietly, waiting for an answer. "Everything," I grumbled in annoyance, "Something's going on inside the military, and the homunculi have something do with it. Then there's Kimblee, Scar and Blackburn. I just have a really bad feeling about what's going to happen." Ed nodded quietly and I paused. "…I'm staying with you and Al."

Ed's expression immediately turned to surprise as he looked at me quickly. "Wha?"

Nodding, I looked back at him firmly, "I'm staying with you guys. You keep saying this is too dangerous for Hannah and me. Well I'm a State Alchemist and Hannah's practically a sharp-shooter. We can take care of ourselves so if it's dangerous for us than it's dangerous for you and Al. Four is better than two so suck it up and deal with it."

"…" It was silence between us for a few minutes. I was surprised to see Ed began to smile. Chuckling, he shook his head at me. "You're ridiculous, Riley." I opened my mouth to protest but he interrupted me, "That's what you've been worrying about, isn't it?"

The amusement he found from this irritated me. Blushing slightly, I looked away, glaring at the city. "Of course not," I grumbled out in response.

He only chuckled a bit more. Quietly, he began to stand and I looked up at him curiously. "C'mon," He said, holding his hand out for me. He began to blush slightly as he continued, "I have an idea of where Al is."

I said nothing at first, trying to figure out what happened as I looked up at him. Did he… Did he mean he still wanted Hannah and me there? Looking Ed in the eyes seemed to take more time than I thought when I noticed his hand began to lower back to his side. Coming back to reality, I grinned and grabbed Ed's hand before it lowered completely. He was startled at first, but tightened his grasp and I stood, taking off down the stairs as I pulled him behind me. "Well let's go then!" I laughed out, glancing at him over my shoulder.

. . .

We stood along the path, coming closer and closer to our friends. Ed was right about his idea. Al was at the river. Apparently Hannah found him because she stood at the edge of the path, waiting on him. The view was beautiful – I could understand why Al would go there. The sky was orange, reflecting on the water. It was calming, to say the least.

Once we reached Hannah, she looked over and smiled. "Hey," She said, looking between Ed and me.

Ed nodded at her but looked back to Al. He headed toward his brother so I glanced over to Hannah. "How's Al?" I asked.

She sighed, glancing to the armor we knew as Al. "He's alright… Pretty quiet, though," She replied.

I nodded and looked back to Ed and Al. They were both headed back toward us. Al stopped Ed and said some things, but we were too far away to hear it. Ed said nothing in return. Al walked past him and he began to follow. When the two got up to us, we started to walk back down the path. "How did you know where to find me?" Al asked him.

"You haven't changed at all, Al," Ed replied calmly. He looked over to Al and explained, "When you were little and we had a fight, I'd always find you sitting by the river." Al looked to the river and 'hm'ed in thought. He began realizing what Ed said was true and I grinned, glad the two were back to normal.

. . .

Desert. That was all we could see.

"So… What do we do now?" Al asked nervously.

I scowled slightly, knowing what the answer would be. Hannah was frowning. From the look in her eye, I could tell she was preparing herself for this. Ed wasn't happy about it either. "I guess we have to walk," He said, "We don't have much choice."

Sighing, I drooped my shoulders in worry. By the time we got anywhere, Scar would've most likely made the stone. Hearing honking, we all perked up. We looked over to the direction of the sound and saw a bike pull up, a blond woman driving it. She smirked over at us, and something seemed oddly familiar about her. She wore a military uniform, save for the jacket, and a tattoo was clear along her shoulder and chin. "Hey, want a lift?" She asked us, pointing backwards to the cart that was attached at the end of the bike.

"Marta!" Al exclaimed. I looked over at him, still curious as to who she was. The name was really familia…

_I came to a clearing within a few minutes, and saw Greed and Al standing there. Hiding behind I tree, I listened in. "Hey, Marta. Stay in that can until morning. If I'm not back by then, you're on your own. Just make sure you have some fun. Okay?"_

_"Greed," I heard a female voice from Al, "What are you gonna do?"_

_He smirked, "Can't get into it, doll." He looked around them and cleared his voice, "Oh, kid?" My shoulders stiffened. He knew? Pouting, I peered around the tree, glaring at him all the while. "Take care of these two while I'm gone."_

My eyes widened in recognition. "Oh!" I shouted, now in just as much surprise as Al, "You're the one from before…!"

Ed and Hannah looked to us curiously. "What's that? You two know her?" Ed asked us.

Al 'err'ed, looking between Ed, Marta and me. "Well, yeah… Sort of," He mumbled in reply.

Grinning, Ed turned back to Marta. "Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He said, running toward the bike.

"No, Brother, wait!" Al protested, holding his arms up to stop him.

Marta looked from Ed to us. "It's no big deal," She shrugged, "I'm just trying to help someone in a bind."

Al sighed, knowing it was a losing battle. I grinned, glancing up at him, "We minaswell, Al. Better than walking the distance!" He looked over at me and nodded slowly, knowing I was right. "So let's go," I said, walking to the bike with Hannah in tow. Al sighed, following as well. As we all positioned ourselves in the cart, Al muttered something to Marta. I wasn't sure what it was, so I didn't think too much into it.

"Everybody ready?" Marta asked. Making sure we were, she took off.

Ed and Al talked about when they were kids, but I wasn't listening. My legs hung off the edge of the cart, flying back behind us. It felt good. For once I wasn't thinking too much about things. Sure, I knew the end was near and I knew that whatever happened, had to happen. And I knew I probably wouldn't like it, either. But at that moment, I was okay with it.

"We even fought about who would marry Winry!"

I almost fell over after hearing this. Hannah grabbed my collar, making sure I was safe in the cart. "What?" I shouted, looking over at them in surprise. I wasn't expecting to ever hear _that_.

Ed and Al continued talking about it, and Hannah laughed at me. "Jealous, Riley?" She mumbled, leaning toward me in a taunting manner.

"What?"

"S-Stop moving, you'll tip us over!"

"Good, it'll be easier to kill you when you're trapped under a bike!"

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.

Ehehehehe… I'm uber excited for the next chapter. RILEY STOPS BEING OBLIVIOUS. xO

"Trettifire," is Norwegian.  
"Trinte Cinq," is French.  
"Harminchat," is Hungarian.


	37. Trenta Sette! That's 37!

So. How was _your_ Father's Day? I hope it was good. x3

I'm going to Seishun Con on Saturday, which is why I went ahead and posted this chapter now. Because after that con, I'll be editing pictures. By the time I finish with that, it'll be not only Independence Day, but my grandpa's birthday. So I'll be editing even _more_ pictures from Nash Farm's annual celebrations and the birthday. Yay. xD

But if you're going to Seishun Con, try to find me in my manry cargo shorts and Alphonse hat(Or possibly Kon if I can't find my Alphonse hat x.x). I'll… Er… Photograph you. XD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** I loved that Scar/Riley dream. I couldn't help myself, adding it a second time!

**DramaQueen524:** About time, ne? xD

**Fmagurl123:** Aww, yay! Haha, I'm glad I had you laughing. My job is done. And no, I haven't read the last manga chapter yet. I've gotten so uberly behind on FullMetal Alchemist, I'm nowhere near finishing the manga or the Brotherhood series. I heard it was really good though!

**Warning746:** Haha, thanks! I'm still on the fence about the whole Al/Hannah thing, really. If there is any "interaction" between them, it will be very subtle.  
I _have_ read the manga, but not much of it at all. I'm still trying to finish Yu Yu Hakusho and Bitter Virgin, as well as trying to start back on Amatsuki and -Man. I've watched the first few episodes of Brotherhood, but I've watched the entire first series about four or five times, as well as the movie. I heard the ending was really good!  
Haha, it's a palindrome!

**AirMage99:** WINRY WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DRIVE A TRACTOR, MWAHAHAHA!

**ArmstrongIsWeird: **The sky is falling! Dx

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Of course she is! Kukuku…

**yumiXjaganshi:** Haha! ADD always has to kick in when it comes to Riley and Ed.

**Lunarfox's Silverdusk:** Why thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

**YaddaGirl:** Even funnier now? Alright! Aww, I love it when people can read something of mine over again. Means it's not too boring, haha.

**Katsekala:** Who knew she was the jealous type? xP

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

Bluurg. The first half of this chapter's boring.

If I owned FullMetal Alchemist, Riley would be in it. And the manga wouldn't have ended. SO THERE.  
I do own Riley, which is why she would've been in FullMetal Alchemist if I owned FullMetal Alchemist. SO THERE.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven:  
**_A Militia Reunion_

"_Kill me. Kill me now…_"

That was the only thing going on in my head. How could moments twist so easily? Damn it, one minute we're all fine and dandy and the next, everyone's all depressing. It was pissing me off. Things changed on the drop of a hat around Ed and Al.

It was night out, and we were all sitting near the bike. Ed, Al, Hannah and I sat around each other, blankets over all of us but Al. Marta sat several feet away, glaring at the ground. She had found out about what happened at Dante's. I kept my mouth shut after that – I didn't want Marta trying to kill me because I defended Ed and I didn't _need_ Ed leaving me in the desert because I defended Marta.

"So," Marta mumbled bitterly, "You're the one."

Ed stared over at her with a frown. "Yeah… I killed Greed. And I'm not sorry either," He said, causing me to glare over at him.

He didn't have to say it so coldly. He also didn't have to glare at Marta like she was some rotten monster or something either. Apparently Al sensed Ed's foulness as well. Waving his hands, he looked down at Ed, saying, "Brother, this isn't the time."

Ignoring Al, Ed continued frowning. "Marta. I'm not sure where you stand on all this, but I want to make sure you know where I'm at. I regard you and Greed as criminals, especially Greed. He murdered Dante," Ed continued, but after hearing this, I didn't want to listen anymore.

Greed didn't kill her.

I knew he didn't. I was there. I saw what happened… Sure, what I saw could be taken two different ways. And I'm sure if Ed saw what I saw, he'd say that Lyra chick was just defending herself. But that look in her eye… It wasn't defense. Greed was most definitely just another victim in that house. I couldn't tell Ed that… Hell, I couldn't tell anyone. Just trying to think about it, a lump rose to my throat.

Tuning back in, I saw Al hovering over Ed, both looking terrified out of their minds. A snake was beside them, a knife through its head. A brow raised, I looked to them dully. Hannah was smiling nervously, as she saw what happened. But I didn't care. Ed deserved whatever scare he received for talking like that to Marta.

Marta looked skywards, frowning still. "Greed knew he would be sealed again… He wouldn't take that. What is worse for the greedy than having nothing at all? I think he wanted you to end his life, and the pain. My enemies in all of this are the military elite who made us, those freaks dressed up in black…" Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and she began to slice the snake in half as she finished. "And the rat that betrayed us most of all. Kimblee."

The corner of my lip twitched. Her and I… We were on the same page. We both wanted Kimblee dead, and for similar reasons too.

Marta threw the now dead snake on the ground in front of Ed. "You should eat that. It's good for you," She said calmly.

Ed looked to the snake before smirking slightly, turning to Marta. "Yeah? Then why don't you eat it?"

With a simple glance to Ed from the side of her eye, Marta replied with, "Come on, trying to turn me into a cannibal now, Ed?"

. . .

I could remember when Master Gregory told me about Ishbal. It was during the massacre, before the downfall of my parents' army. He told me you knew Ishbal when you saw it. That the heat there was different than the rest of the desert. He could never tell me _why_, he just always told me it was.

And, standing there in the middle of Ishbal, I knew what he meant.

We were all quiet. Ed, Al and Hannah were all shocked. I wasn't. I was just disgusted. The huge knot in my stomach made me want to puke. My knees were weak but I was going to stay standing. If I didn't, who knew what else I'd give in to. Hannah grasped my arm gently, sending me a look of worry, but I didn't respond. "It's… Worse than I imagined," Ed murmured out, looking around with wide eyes.

There was nothing. The only thing of Ishbal that remained were parts of foundations for buildings. Nobody or nothing was around. The place was dead. "There's nothing left at all," Al said quietly.

"Scar wouldn't be here. We're back to square one," He muttered bitterly.

Marta turned to look at him as she rested a hand on her hip. "What exactly are you looking for?" She asked the brothers.

They paused and glanced to each other. Ed nodded, so Al looked to Marta. "The Philosopher's Stone," He told her. "Someone told us it was created here a long time ago, before Ishbal was destroyed."

"But that's impossible," She murmured, looking away in thought. "If the Ishbalins were capable of something like that, they would've put up some kind of resistance."

Ed spoke up, confused. "Resistance? What do you mean? There was armed tension between the army and Ishbal years before the war broke out. And when it did, it was because of an Ishbalin revolt in reaction to a soldier accidentally shooting a child," He said. I paused. That _was_ what Marcoh told us. And that was what Marcoh always told me to believe.

Surprise shown on Marta's face before she relaxed, glancing away. "So that's what they told you. I always wondered what they would say…" She leaned down, taking a handful of sand, "But I never got to know. I was locked up in Lab Five for fourteen years."

"But that was when the tension first started," Al said, "You would've just been a kid."

Marta quickly replied with, "I may look young because of the experiments but I'm actually old enough to be your mom."

Ed gained a Cheshire Cat grin and began to replied, "That old?" But before he could get the second word out, Marta's boot slammed into his face. It fell to the ground and Ed glanced away nervously. "I mean, wow."

Marta frowned at him, before explaining the war. How she was Special Ops, and how they were told to attack to prevent an attack Ishbal planned against Central. By the time she was done, I was looking downwards. "Whenever I asked my parents why they would always leave for long periods of time, they would just tell me it was because of a pointless war. They had always been involved with Ishbal so they had to know this… But why didn't anyone tell me?" I mumbled out.

"Parents…?" Marta repeated under her breath. Looking to me, she asked, "You're a Mauler, aren't you?" I nodded and from the look in her eyes, she began to realize we had mutual enemies.

Ed's fist slammed into a stone wall. "But how could the military start a war without provocation?" He growled out. "How come no one stood up to tell the people what really happened?"

"No one ever knew about it," Marta replied simply.

Ed spun around to look at the woman. "You did!" He said.

"Well let me finish my story," She said before jumping onto Al's shoulders.

Ignoring Al's protests, she slipped into his body. Ed and Hannah both shivered at it, a bit alarmed. "I… Think I'm missing your point," Ed mumbled awkwardly.

She then went into another story. She explained how she, and the rest of the soldiers like her, were turned into Chimeras. I was surprised, to say the least. I had never heard any of this before. Did Master Gregory know about the experiments? He couldn't have. "They could further their research and silence all of us at the same time… But why?" Marta asked.

"They didn't want the real reason for the war to get out. It's part of some greater truth."

Ed was shaking from anger. He glared at the ground as he began pondering out loud. "But what the hell for? What could they profit from Ishbal?" Angrily, he stepped forward a kicked a rock into a stone wall.

We looked to the wall to see two people dart their heads back behind it. "Someone's here!" Al exclaimed, tightening his head back on. _God, that sounded weird._

"Yeah, our next lead," Ed replied, taking off after the two. We followed quickly as Ed shouted at them to stop. They ignored this of course, so Ed clapped his hands. He sent a Sand Monster high into the air, falling toward them. The sand landed and a pile was formed over and around the two mysterious men. "Alright, fess up. What are you guys doing out here, following us?" Ed asked firmly, standing beside the pile as Hannah, Al and I made our way over.

A pause came, and then a muffled answer voiced its way through the sand. My brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what they said. The voice seemed oddly familiar somehow. A second later, another familiar voice came through, clearer than the first. "We're here on orders. We're supposed to check the security of the old Ishbal region," He said.

Yes. I most _definitely_ knew that voice!

Ed didn't seem to recognize it yet. "Then why didn't you just come ask us about it instead of hiding like a couple of spies?" He asked the sand pile.

"My brother may not look it, but he's a State Alchemist. And a tough one!" Al added.

The sand seemed to jump slightly and my expression turned deadpan. Did they really not recognize it? One of them started whistling as the sand began to push away. "What are these guys, moles?" Ed asked, confused as he watched the moving pile.

"For the love of… Come on out! I know it's you two," I said, hand on my hip as I glared at the pile.

It stopped, as though considering what I said, but began to continue again. By this time, Al was beginning to recognize the voices so he walked over. He stuck his hands into the pile and fished out the two military officers I knew to be Breda and Havoc. Breda scowled as Havoc let out a nervous grin, cigarette hanging loosely in the corner of his mouth. I shook my head as Havoc waved at us. Even if they were hiding from us, it felt kind of nice seeing them again. Well, seeing Havoc's nervous grin that is. Breda had been scowling ever since we saw him last. "You two?" Ed asked in surprise, "Then that means the Colonel's here…"

The reunion that was about to come had me _jumping_ for joy… Ugh.

. . .

"I can't say I was expecting to see you here, Ed." That was Mustang, alright.

Ed and I sat side by side as Al and Hannah sat on either side of us. Mustang and Archer stood in front of us, with Riza to our left. With my hands in my lap, I was staring at the ground like it was about to shit diamonds or something. Ed glared at the side, which I was sure he usually did when he met with Mustang. "Yeah, I get it. Wouldn't expect to see me since I'm so short, you couldn't distinguish me from all the grains of sand," He mocked. I rolled my eyes, about to retort with some sarcastic reply, but Ed jumped up to glare up at Mustang, "Very funny!"

At the sudden movement, Archer moved to attack, but Mustang stopped him. Looking back to Ed(and me too, no doubt), he said, "I see you've been making quite a mess of things. Southern Headquarters… And an escort train full of Ishbalins?" Ed sat back down between Al and me and crossed his arms, glaring once more at the ground. Mustang's smirk vanished. "No more. From now on, you'll be working under my command."

Ed's eyes narrowed and Al leaned forward, "But Colonel…!" I said nothing.

"You're lucky Havoc's patrol found you. It's dangerous out here," Mustang said.

Al was quick to reply. "But you know how we work. We should be able to conduct our own investigat-"

"It's the rules, Al," Ed said, standing with crossed arms still, "I'm their dog. When war starts, they put me back on their leash." Still, I said nothing. I stopped listening as well. The rest from here would be about military plans and what Ed knew anyway.

. . .

"Why Scar, though?" Mustang asked Ed.

We all sat at a long table, food in front of all of us. Ed had the most of course as he happily ate. I couldn't eat. Whether it was the fact I was in the same room as Archer, or the fact I knew Kimblee was around somewhere, or the fact I was sitting just a few people away from the same naïve officer Ed decked back at the escort train… I just couldn't eat. Ed vaguely answered about Scar being a criminal as Al picked up a roll and went to drop it into his armor. Riza smiled up at him, "You don't have to pretend to eat for us, Al. It's alright."

Al paused. "O-Okay…," He mumbled, and placed the roll back on Ed's plate.

Hannah and I glanced to each other and she snuck her own roll into her purse, saving it for Marta for later. Falman began messing with some documents and Hannah glanced over at me after she closed her purse. "What's wrong?" She murmured out.

Shaking my head, I looked down at my food. "Not hungry," I replied simply. It was awkward, to say the least, that I was in the same room as Mustang when the last time I saw him, tears were streaming out of my eyes. Mustang sat across from me and I could feel his own gaze bore into the top of my head. I glanced up at him dully, having my own questions to ask. "So where's Kimblee?" I spat out with disgust.

Mustang's eyes widened but before he could say anything, Ed had shoved a picture into my face. I backed up to see it and noticed Ed looking down at me. "Pay attention, Riley," He scolded. I scowled, but looked back at the picture nonetheless. My eyes widened when I saw what it was.

It was a picture from a surveillance balloon of the target town, no doubt. But what was surprising was the markings in the ground. The transmutation circle. "It's throughout the entire town," Al stated. Hannah leaned over my shoulder to look at it, but didn't understand what it meant. "But who would do that?" Al asked, still surprised.

"Scar…," Ed muttered out.

With his attention shifted back toward Ed, Mustang immediately asked, "And why would you say that?"

Riza looked him in the eye, "You wouldn't happen to know something about it, would you?"

"…No," He mumbled, looking down at the picture once more. "This city… What's it called?" He asked.

Fuery replied with, "It's Lior, sir. Last year, the so called profit stepped down and the military was hoping it could go in and restore the peace."

He was about to continue, but Roy stopped him. "That'll do, Fuery. He's familiar with its past," Mustang said, looking to Ed, who at this point was shaking as his fists clenched onto the table cloth. I didn't know what he meant, so I stayed quiet. It had to have been before we met.

Ed and Al couldn't make sense of the matter. Havoc stepped in, explaining how this priest guy stepped back in after the brothers left. Conflict occurred because of Ed and Al's appearance there. Once he had finished, Ed was scowling deeply. "Why didn't anyone tell me all of this?" He shouted, looking to Roy for answers, "As far as I know, we helped!"

Mustang calmly looked up at him. "I got the report from Hughes," He started, causing me to tense up almost immediately at the name, "And I made the decision not to tell you."

Slamming his hands on the table, Ed wasn't done. "But why?"

"Because it was too big for you," Mustang replied simply. Ed glared at the table, his grip on the cloth tightening.

. . .

It was quiet for a while as Mustang and I walked down the halls. I was originally looking for Kimblee, when Havoc ran into me. Literally. He felt how hot my arms were getting so he went and told on me to Mustang, who knew exactly why I was heating up like an oven. "How long have you known he was part of the military again?" I asked dully, finally speaking up.

He sighed. "I just found out on the train here, so don't ask me why he's back. I don't know myself." I said nothing in response but when I felt his hand on me, I looked over at him quietly. "Don't go after him while you're here, Riley. Archer already hates you as it is."

At first, I didn't say anything. When he squeezed my shoulder, I sighed. "Fine. I won't go looking for him."

Nodding, he let my shoulder go and continued walking. "Good. Instead, you should worry about Ed."

"…Why should I worry about Ed?" I asked, eyes narrowed at Mustang's back. He stopped and looked over his shoulder, almost surprised I didn't know already.

. . .

"And when were you going to tell me about this?"

The edge of the desk I was I gripping at began to melt, and Ed glanced over at me, smirking nervously. "Actually, I was going to have Fuery tell you once I left. I figured since you can't hurt Fuery, you'd be less angry if he was the one to tell you," He replied casually, as though I wasn't melting a desk because of anger toward him.

Thanks to _Mustang_, I had just found that not only was Ed leaving all of us here to go scout out Lior, but he planned all this with none other than Archer. I wasn't sure which factor made me angrier. "Tell me, what part of your brain died on our way here?" I shouted, glaring down at the blond who, at the moment, I would've put off Kimblee to kill.

Ed sighed, standing up once he had his things packed. "Riley, I need to do this." Before I could shout, he added, "And I know if I told you before, you'd argue with me about coming like always and like always, you'd win."

"Yes, because I'm the one with enough common sense to know you don't need to do this alone!" I retorted. I stared him in the eye, trying to figure out what the hell he was planning. Trying to make sure he understood what he was doing. He looked back at me and paused. Sighing, he raised his hand to motion to me but I shook my head and left quickly, slamming the door. I left the area, ignoring Ed's one final attempt at stopping me by shouting my name.

With Ed  
(Because Riley's Being A Hormonal Woman.)

"…"

Marta, Al and Hannah all stood by the bed quietly, glancing from the door to Ed, who still stared at the door after Riley left. Before she stomped away, he could see her eyes start to falter even farther from the usual annoying look she had when she looked at him. She hadn't had the look in a while and it was worrying Ed just as much as it was annoying him.

Growling, he glared at the door before pointing at it and looking to the three that were still in the room. "How is it she can make me feel guilty about something I know I'm right about?" He shouted. The three all sat down, shifting uncomfortably under Ed's annoyed gaze. "Even when I go this far to win in an argument, she still manages to win with one stupid look! What's with that look anyway?"

With a Cheshire Grin, Marta rested her chin on her hand. "She's just worried about you, Kid."

Hannah quickly nodded in agreement, "We've all been traveling together for a long time. She's afraid, Ed. She has been for a while now."

Looking down, Ed fell quiet as he remembered his and Riley's conversation the previous day. Sighing, he headed across the room. He quietly opened the door and left without a word.

With Riley  
(Because Ed's Sympathizing With Riley.)

I sighed, leaning against one of the columns that held up the building quietly. With my arms gently crossed, I rested my head onto the column. A few minutes had passed since I left the room, and I was finally starting to cool down.

_"You're jealous, not self-conscious. You didn't get along with that Winry girl either. You don't like any woman in his life," Nicole stated._

_"That's not true! Winry doesn't like me. I liked her," I pointed out._

_"Because you're a threat to hers and Ed's relationship. Just like you're feeling that Maria is a threat to yours," Nicole explained. I twitched, and she continued, "You don't feel like Ed needs help, you feel like Ed needs you."_

A frown etched on to my face, I thought back to the more serious conversation Ed and I had just recently had.

There was more to the sick feeling in my stomach then just the concerns of our enemies' plans. With every day Hannah and I spent with the Elrics, it just got worse. If I had any sense left, I'd probably take that as a sign _to_ leave – but no, I did just the opposite. That sick feeling wasn't for me, or Hannah. I could tell. I felt something bad would be happening, and I was worried about them.

_Worried about Ed…_

And then there I was throwing a hissy fit because he wanted to go off alone. The pipsqueak was going to go and get himself killed one of these days and it was all that moron's fault! If I wasn't so worried about his damn health, I'd kick his ass! When the thought came to my mind, I began to scowl.

That was exactly the problem, wasn't it?

Before, I didn't have a problem with Ed's little escapades because I knew that in the end he'd get right back up with even more strength than before. And I still did know that he would always just get stronger, mentally and physically, no matter what hit him. But unlike before, I didn't care whether that was true or not. I just cared about him getting those hits. I just cared about whether or not he'd be coming back.

I… It's hard to believe that maybe… Nicole was right all along.

My own… _Feelings…_ Were getting in the way of everything. I couldn't think like I normally did, and if it kept up, Ed and Al damn sure wouldn't find a way to make the stone for their bodies. Besides… I was staying in the military, even after all this ended. Ed wasn't. He wouldn't want to be around me then.

So that was that then, wasn't it? I would just ignore it and hoped it went away for everyone's sake?

"Riley…," I heard from behind me.

Jerked back into reality, I looked over my shoulder and saw Ed walking toward me. The dull glaze over my eyes never left as I mumbled out a weak, "What do you want?"

With a small sigh, he had reached my side. Standing there for a few moments as he stared at me, I began to feel awkward. "We need to talk about this before I leave…," He said dully. At first I tensed, fearing he meant what had just gone through my head no more than five minutes before. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," He started, causing me to relax tremendously, "I know you're worried, Riley, but I have to do this alone. You're going to hate to hear this but in order for me to go, I had to leave Al here until I got back and without Al there I… I can't protect you and Hannah if something happened."

He was about to continue, the look on his face showing he was certain I'd start yelling after hearing that. And I'm sure on any normal occasion I would have. But instead, I cut him off as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders tightly. He stumbled back in pure shock and after a few seconds of silence, he stuttered out under his breath, "Y-You're not trying to choke me out of rage, are you?"

Tightening my grip, I dug my face into his shoulder as I mumbled out simply, "I should." Sighing, I let go of the grasp I had of his jacket. "Be careful, okay?… Don't you dare leave Al behind," I whispered out, frowning deeply.

More silence passed between us. I felt Ed move slightly as he turned his head toward my own, but he couldn't see me. My face was still hidden. "…Riley. If I don't come back," I winced at the thought but said nothing as he continued, "I want you to take Al with you and Hannah. Do whatever you can to keep him safe and _don't_ let him try to bring me back. No matter what. Just take care of him for me."

"…" I finally glanced to the side of my eye to see him looking straight at me. He was the most serious I had ever seen him before. "I promise I'll take care of him," I mumbled out, looking him dead in the eye. He nodded, grinning slightly as a blush started on his cheeks.

Then it got awkward.

Blushing, I jerked away from him and stood with my hands by my side as I glanced away. So much for trying to ignore _that_. Scowling, I mumbled out, "Just hurry there and get this over with, alright?"

With a lopsided grin, Ed nodded. "I was planning on it."

. . .

"Well don't you look sexy."

Ed blushed as Hannah and I walked down the steps toward him, Al, and Armstrong. He was in a disguise; brunette wig with a dress and scarf. He was leaving for Lior. Havoc sat in the car that would take Ed there, just a few feet behind us. Hannah giggled as Ed glared up at Al. "I thought I told you not to let her see me like this!" He exclaimed.

Covering his mouth, Al tried not to laugh as he said, "Sorry Brother."

"Don't be such a girl, Ed," I smirked out, arms crossed as I raised a brow. He glared at me but I could only laugh.

His glare began to fade, and he shook his head. Turning to walk to the car, he grumbled out, "Yeah, yeah, get it all out while you can Riley…"

As he climbed into the car, I gave a grin. "I was planning on it," I said. Sitting in the car, he glanced over at me at that. Grinning slightly, he shook his head at me and waved lazily at us before the car drove off quickly. I sighed, glancing back to the building behind me. Now that he was gone, I had my own things I needed to do before he got back.

Mustang and Ed both were going to be utterly, _royally_ pissed at me for this.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	38. Trīsdesmit Astoņi! That's 38!

I'm back and ready to go!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Canada Day for those in Canada, Independence Day for us in America, and Pancake Day(God Forbid my friend not remind me on a daily basis) for everybody! I had an awesome Fourth of July, save for the all-nighter I pulled editing pictures. And SeishunCon was a lot of fun, too. More fun than I hoped.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Of course it is! Haha xD

**AirMage99:** Hehe, she has. It took her long enough!

**Dragon of Twilight:** It's in her blood to do something stupid.

**Yumixjaganshi:** One of her many schemes is going to get her in trouble. As usual.  
Lawlz, thanks. I try.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Haha, indeed!  
Here's your next chapter. xD

**Fmagurl123:** She is! Finally! Aw, I'm glad you like the humor in it all, as well as their little moment.

**Katsekala:** Finally! It only took thirty some chapters. And of course she is. xP

**Kyte:** Aww! I'm surprised you liked it enough to read the entire thing in a day. I hope this chapter's epic, but it's up for everyone else to decide on that. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoy Riley, and can relate to her. I worked hard on her personality.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

This chapter kind of rushed right on through to the next chapter, but I wrote what I wanted to write.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, but I own Riley.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight:**  
_Death._

I stalked down the halls, looking through every inch of every room I passed with one goal in mind.

Kimblee.

The fact that bastard was in the same building as me kept eating away at me. It had already been a day since Ed left, and Hannah thought him being gone was what was bothering me. So when I told her I needed some fresh air, she didn't even protest. My anger was getting the best of me and if I wanted to be sane when we left, I had to do something.

"KIMBLEE!" My blood froze at the scream and I felt my entire body stiffen. That was Marta's voice. With excitement for finding Kimblee and fear for Marta's wellbeing, I took off in the direction of the voice.

Turning a corner, I saw what was going on. Marta had wrapped her arms around Kimblee in order to constrain him, holding a knife at his throat as he held it further from him. Al stood back in surprise. Knowing Kimblee wouldn't be held long, I realized that was my chance. I ran forward, Kimblee and Marta my destination, but a large hand quickly gripped my arms, yanking me back into the metal body of Al. "Ah, damn it Al, let me go!" I shouted, struggling to get out of his grasp.

In any other situation, I would have felt bad for Al. He had to keep Marta and I _both_ in check and we're _both_ too passionate about Kimblee's death to just give up. But Al only ignored me as he looked back to the other two. "Kimblee… What are you doing here?" He asked in shock.

With the same egotistical smirk I hated, he answered Al calmly. "That's a pretty ridiculous question, considering I am a State Alchemist again," He said as Marta's hand shook against his own.

"You ratted us all out, you piece of garbage!" Marta hissed with sever distaste, "Now you have to pay!"

Kimblee only continued to smirk as he looked from her to Al. "Come on, Alphonse… You're not going to let her kill me," He said smoothly.

The step back Al took showed he was startled by the question. I glared at the ground as I answered for him. "No, he won't." Kimblee smirked, but I wasn't anywhere near as amused as he was. "That's my job," I growled out before spinning on my heel. The back of my foot slid behind the side of Al's leg and within a second, he was tripped high into the air.

I ran at Kimblee, but Al was quick to get back to his feet. Just as I was in reaching distance of Kimblee, Al slid in front of me as he pulled Marta away. My forehead smacked into the back of Al and I stumbled to the ground as Al struggled with Marta. "What the hell, Al?" I shouted angrily, glaring up at him. He stepped back some, trying to keep distance between Kimblee and Marta, when I noticed Kimblee grab the officer that was with him.

_No…_

"W-What are you doing?" Al stuttered out, seeing this as well.

Kimblee didn't bother looking back at us. "Relax, Kid. I'm only doing what's necessary," He replied before tossing the officer toward us. Marta, blinded by anger, ran forward to attack Kimblee yet again but bumped into the officer, whose skin was going a deathly gray.

_No._

"Marta, no!" Al shouted as he ran forward to stop her. Time seemed to slow down as I watched Al near the walking bomb. "_No matter what. Just take care of Al for me_," Went through my head.

_No!_

Out of instinct, I ran forward to stop them both. Kimblee turned to walk away, and the officer exploded. Just before my sight was blinded, I could see Al reach Marta. Then the shockwave and the heat shoved into me and I braced myself as I flew backwards.

When I slammed onto the ground, on my injured arm no less, the pain was too much to get up. I let out a few small yelps as I tried catching my breath and held my arm. Turning back to the hall, I didn't see Marta or Al anywhere. Kimblee, on the other hand, stood ten feet away from me, scowling down onto the ground below. That must have been where they were. I tried to stand back up, but with every bit of added pressure on my shoulder, it felt like one more piece of muscle tissue, bone and artery was being ripped apart. Kimblee jumped down onto the ground below and my anger raised. He didn't forget I was there. He just dismissed me. Like I was already out.

No way in hell was I out.

Slowly, I rolled on my left side and used every limb but my right arm to help myself stand. I gritted my teeth as I finally stood, glaring ahead at the ground where I could now see Kimblee. He was walking toward Al. Every step he took, my pain began to dull. So, I took a few steps toward the edge, trying to gain my strength back.

Kimblee hit his leg onto Al's body as he scowled out, "You had to go and ruin it."

He rolled Al off of Marta, who was knocked out. Al jumped up in a position to fight as he exclaimed, "You stay away from Marta or else!"

"Heh… And by Marta, I take it you mean this reptile," Kimblee retorted, looking down at the woman casually.

Al's anger was beginning to raise, also. "She's a human being!" He protested. At this point, I began to run to the edge and jumped off. The momentum had my feet hit the ground hard, but it only gave me quicker speed when I charged at Kimblee's back.

Quick to reply, Kimblee glanced back to him. "That's not what I heard. I heard she's a Chimera… An artificial human… Like you," He finished, smirking.

Not even a second after his mouth shut, my shoulder had slammed into his back and I wrapped my arm around it, planning on taking him down just as hard as I was taken down earlier. He yelped slightly as we were both flung forward. When we landed, my shoulder pushed him further and harder down and I used it as a catapult to roll forward, away from him. Turning back around, I glared down at him and spat out, "Don't _ever_ talk to him that way, you backstabbing bastard!"

Climbing to his feet, Kimblee only chuckled. "I thought you were dead, Kid. Guess I underestimated you," He stated, dusting his shoulders off. My eyesight began to shake and I cussed myself out for it. How could I let the pain get the better of me _now_? I wouldn't. My right knee shook slightly and I stumbled down a bit but quickly caught myself. Unfortunately, Kimblee noticed this all too clearly. Chuckling more, he smirked widely, "Or maybe I didn't."

Before I could attack, Al had. It was surprising to see, but I wasn't going to stop him. Not at all.

The two fought quickly, Al throwing fast swings and kicks. Kimblee managed to dodge, but at the same time he didn't manage to get any hits in either. He continued stepping back, when his boot got caught on a crack. This time it was my turn to smirk as Al quickly drew a transmutation circle and sent pillars of stone at Kimblee. Kimblee caught himself and dodged them all. "Thanks for giving me what I needed, moron," He said arrogantly as he placed his hand on the pillar.

My hopes were almost crushed, but then I saw Al.

He shaped and sculpted an entire stone wall around Kimblee. A second or two passed, and an explosion was heard inside the cage, a side of the wall blown outward. I held my breath, hoping to God that Kimblee was dead. But when I saw the hand come out and grasp the wall, I knew it would take a lot more than his own power. He limped out and a grin came to my face when I saw the shape he was in. For the first time, we had the advantage.

When we heard footsteps, my hopes really were crushed. Damn it all! We looked to the doorway of the building and spotted several soldiers running toward us, guns ready. Mustang was in the middle and while I was happy it wasn't Archer, I still knew he was beyond pissed.

Particularly at Kimblee and me. And just the thought of someone being angry at the _both_ of us was sickening. Let alone that someone being Mustang.

Hurriedly making his way to Kimblee, Mustang glared down at him. "The Elric brothers and Mauler are under my jurisdiction. If you have a problem with them, you take it up with me and put it in writing. Is that understood?" He spat out, not bothering to show any sort of respect to the lowlife that lay before him.

Kimblee smirked. Again. "Sure, just keep the scrap of metal away from me," He retorted.

Pissed, I started for him again. "How dare you talk about him lik-" I yelped in pain when Mustang grabbed my arm to hold me back. His grip on my arm flinched when he noticed the pain, but he still held on. He knew that if he even let me go for a second, I'd kill Kimblee.

And he was right.

. . .

"What were you thinking, Riley?"

I didn't reply. I only glared at the covers on the hospital bed I sat in. Mustang stood at the end of the bed, looking down at me in disappointment. It was hard enough dealing with that look, but having to sit there and listen to his lecture was even worse. Mustang glanced to Riza, who stood at the doorway. She nodded and opened the door. I glanced over to watch her leave, and saw Hannah and Al staring into the room with worry. Al was off the hook – his reasons were for self-defense. But Mustang knew me enough to know mine weren't.

Once the door was softly and quietly shut, Mustang relaxed slightly. Sighing, he slipped his hands out of his pockets and sat down on the edge of the bed. I watched him for a few minutes and bit my lip. I knew he was trying to figure out what to say. Not as a Superior Officer but as someone who had been taking care of me for as long as he, and Maes, had.

So I spoke up for him. "I know I was in the wrong, Mustang…," I grumbled out. He blinked in surprise at the sudden broken silence and looked over at me. "I know I should give up before this gets worse… And I know I'm risking Hannah and Al's life." Falling silent, my good hand clenched the covers. "…But I can't act like nothing happened knowing what that bastard's getting away with."

Mustang didn't reply at first. I continued to frown as I thought over what all had happened. Shaking his head, Mustang placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him. "Don't worry about that. You need your rest right now. I'm not going to let Kimblee do anything to you, or Al or Hannah. Trust me."

"…" Quietly, I nodded. He squeezed my shoulder gently as he stood from the bed. He walked to the door as I laid down, when I remembered something. "Mustang." When he stopped, I sighed, "Can you not tell Ed about this?"

He grinned slightly, "I had already decided it was best we didn't. We don't need another hothead running around the halls looking for Kimblee." I smirked slightly at his lighthearted tone as he left the room. Once he left, Al and Hannah ran inside, bombarding me with questions about what happened.

. . .

_"Come on, then, wake up. You can't sleep forever," Came a soothing voice._

_The tanned man flinched slightly, moving a bit. His red eyes slowly opened to see a woman sitting beside him. With light blonde hair reaching her shoulders and bright blue eyes, she smiled softly down at the man on the makeshift bed. "Where am I…?" He groaned out after remembering what had happened. His brother, the Elder, that military man… The black-haired savior._

_She brushed bangs from his still healing face as she said, "You're safe, don't worry. The Elder is too. We won't let them get to you." He continued looking at the woman, trying to remember everything. The last thing he saw was her face. Even though she wasn't one of his people, she was beautiful. But wasn't she with that man? Where was he? When he finally voiced his question, her eyes glazed over as her smile shook. "He's gone," Was her only reply. Despite the tears threatening to show, her voice was still as calming as it was before. "He died just before I brought you here."_

_"You mean he was killed," He bitterly responded, glaring at the ceiling. The woman was silent, but she nodded slightly. "What is your name?" He asked, turning to look back at her when he realized he didn't know. He only knew she wasn't Ishbalin, which meant she had to be part of the Rebellion Army. Those who had done so much for his people._

_The woman quickly blinked away her pain and began to replace the wet cloth on his forehead. She moved to reply, when an explosion happened outside the tent they were in. Claire's eyes immediately hardened as she turned to look outside. "They found us sooner than I thought." The man began to stand, but she placed her hand firmly on his shoulder. "Stay."_

_He blinked at the sudden change in tone. In mere seconds, her voice became hard and firm; that of a demanding mother's. He slowly lay back down, and she smiled at him, placing a hand on his cheek. Almost as though she knew what would happen once she left, she looked him in the eye. "Don't leave this tent until someone comes inside to get you, alright?" He was about to protest, but she smiled, pushing his head back down to the pillow. "You're safe. I promise."_

_"I still don't know you," He murmured out._

_Smiling still, she replied, "My name is Clairessant Mauler." And with that said, she removed her hand from his cheek and quickly left, grabbing her weapons as she did. He stared at the entrance of the tent in tense silence, waiting for the woman who healed him from death._

_She never came back._

Gasping, I sat up but quickly winced, grabbing my right shoulder in pain. "Mom…," I mumbled under my breath. Was that how it had happened? My father was killed and my mother, being the protective woman she was, made her first priority Scar's safety?

But why was I dreaming about that? Was something going on in Lior? Worried more than ever, I turned my gaze to the window, afraid of all the possibilities. It was only a matter of time until Ed came back. _If_ he came back.

. . .

Sighing, I pulled my good arm away from Hannah's grasp and shook my head. Ever since that morning, she had been escorting me all over the place, saying, 'You need your physical exercise too!' I was fine with being able to walk around finally, but I didn't need someone to hold me by the arm. "Hannah, I know you're worried and thank you for that, but I _can_ still walk!" I whined, shaking my arm out.

Frowning, she held her hands out as though she'd catch me if I fell(Which we both know would only take us both to the ground). "I just want to be sure, Riley."

I nodded at her as we turned to walk outside. "I know, but I don't have a broken leg, I have a screwed…" Hannah's brows furrowed when she saw my eyes widen. She turned to look with me and let out a loud gasp.

About fifty feet from us, Al was on his knees, sobbing. But what really grabbed our attention wasn't his shaking shoulders, but the blood that spilled all around his body from the cracks of his metal armor. "…Al," I moved to say, but no words came out. Rushing past Hannah, bumping into her shoulder, I ran toward him. "AL!"

Reaching him, I stumbled to my knees in front of him, ignoring the fact I was sitting in blood. "Al! What happened?" I shouted. He didn't respond so I looked to his armor. It was all coming from his stomach area. I moved to the grab the latch and open it, but when his hand pushed mine away, I looked back up to him. "Al, you either tell me or I see for myself! What happened?" Hannah watched from the sidelines as I continued shouting at Al, trying to get him to stop pushing me away. Finally, he snapped.

"**Marta's dead**!"

. . .

Mustang and his unit had come to investigate Marta's body, along with Armstrong. Just before the officers had arrived, Al told us what Marta had told him. He told us the Furher, a homunculus, killed her and he told us he planned on killing Ed. I left shortly after. Hannah had run off, feeling sick to her stomach when she saw Marta, so I left after her. I finally found her in our bedroom's bathroom, sitting against the tub beside the toilet.

Sighing, I walked over and sat on the edge of the tub. "I'm sorry you had to see her like that," I mumbled out.

Hannah wrapped her arms around her knees, laying her chin on her arms. "…It's… No, it isn't okay," She shook her head before looking up at me with tears in her eyes, "Riley, what's going on? I know I haven't been able to understand much of anything lately but I do know something bad's happening. What exactly is it, Riley? I need to know before I make the decision to keep tagging along with you guys. I'm not as strong as you all are!"

At first, I said nothing. When I finally figured out what I'd say, I sighed. "…I'm still not sure. Scar wants to make the Philosopher's Stone in Lior, but now… Now after what Al told me, I'm not so sure Scar's what I'm worried about."

"…," Hannah nodded, looking back to the ground. "I just… I don't know anymore. I want to go back home, but I don't want to just leave you behind. And I know there's no way in hell you'd even think of coming home with me, what with Ed."

I almost fell into the tub. "What about Ed?" I exclaimed, looking down at her in surprise.

Looking up at me, she nodded innocently. "What, you thought I was oblivious to it? Riley, I knew you loved him before you knew," She said simply, as though talking about the weather.

And just like that, my face was as red as a tomato. "I-I wouldn't use that word! That's too strong a-" When she glared at me, I paused and sighed. Plopping down onto the floor beside her, I scowled. "I don't know what I feel. I mean… I think Nicole may have been right, yes. But it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?" She asked, confused as she sat up, subject completely changed now.

Sighing, I shook my head, "Because I'm not going to endanger Ed and Al's lives just because I _may_ have feelings."

Hannah rolled her eyes, standing up as she grabbed my good hand. "Whatever, Riley. Let's go," She said, pulling me out the door.

We left the bedroom, both of us feeling slightly better. Not to mention preoccupied. When we turned down another hall, we saw Al running toward us. Hannah waved at him as he reached us. "We're going to find Ed!" He said.

A smile landed on both of our faces. "Really? You mean I get to get out of this place?" I exclaimed in excitement. Al nodded before explaining about a letter Ed sent to Mustang. Apparently Scar wasn't going to use the people of Lior, but the military. Then Al told me about how he told them about what it took to make a stone, and Riza gave him Ed's pocket watch which was left here. I nodded, listening to it all before turning to Hannah. "…So, are you going to come with us?"

Hannah was quiet for a few minutes, looking between Al and me. Smiling nervously, she rubbed the back of her head. "If Riza doesn't mind lending me a gun, then I will," She replied. I grinned and she walked past us to go talk to Riza while Al and I went to get our things.

Al grabbed my wrist and began to lead me back to the room, and I shouted loudly. Remembering the injury, he quickly let go of me and spun around to watch me kneel over, gripping my arm. "R-Riley! I'm sorry, I forgot!"

Through gritted teeth, I tried to grin as I said, "Don't worry about it."

"…" He sighed, lowering his arms as he turned serious. "Maybe you should stay here. If Brother finds out about your arm, he'll get mad at the both of us, not to mention the Colonel."

Bitterly laughing, I shook my head as I tried to sooth my arm. "Al, he's always mad at the Colonel and he wouldn't get mad at you at all. Besides you know as well as I do that if you leave me here, I'll just do worse to my arm than I would if I go with you," I replied. He said nothing, knowing I was right.

We both headed back to the room where Al insisted on carrying Hannah's bag and my camera(Which turned out to be the _only_ thing I had left to carry. My pajamas and such were in Hannah's bag and everything else was stashed on my person). After a bit of fussing over it, Al won and I realized how lucky I was that I only had to fight _Ed_ on a regular basis, not his brother.

Once all was ready, we headed off as quick as we could. And as much as I thought I had gone through every scenario possible, I wouldn't realize how far off I really was.

. . .

Finally.

We had reached Lior. The kid who took Ed's letter to Mustang had led us three back here. On the way I had been using my sulfur in ways I'd never done before. My shoulder was going to be my downfall if it didn't improve even in the slightest, so I began using my sulfur in different ways on my arm as I remembered things Marcoh taught me, which turned out to do nothing but strengthen the movement by a bit. It still hurt like hell, pressure or not. But I couldn't let Al and Hannah know that. And Al wouldn't know it even if I wanted to tell him. Why?

Because Hannah and I were lost. Yep.

Apparently I had taken a wrong turn because I was so consumed with fixing my arm, and Hannah was behind me so she followed. Next thing we knew, Al and that Kid were nowhere to be seen. Hell, _no one_ was anywhere to be seen.

"I can't believe you got us lost!" Hannah shouted angrily.

I was walking far ahead of her, afraid she would decide to use Riza's gun for other purposes than self-defense. "I already said I was sorry! You weren't looking either, though!" I retorted, only to regret it when I saw Hannah pointing the gun at me. My eyes widened. "H-Hannah, come on, don't be so ir-" She shot the gun off and I yelped, covering my head. When I heard the bullet fly past me, I looked back to see a gunshot wound in the head of a Chimera. My eyes narrowed, "Who brought those things here?"

Hearing an explosion several yards away, the question was pretty much answered. Knowing those explosions by now, I ran toward them. "Come on, Hannah!" Whether she followed or not, I didn't care. All I knew was that I had a pyromaniac to finish off.

We reached an intersection of Lior to see Kimblee shove into Al's back, as I had done to him just the day before. He pushed Al into Scar, who I had just noticed was there. Scar dodged out of the way, only to have Kimblee raise his hand, clamping down on Scar's wrist. At first, I froze. This was just like then… When my parents died for that scarred man.

I wasn't going to waste that.

Running, I leapt forward and grabbed Kimblee's wrist, twisting back so I could slam my foot into his face. It was quick enough to surprise him, as he landed on his back a few feet away from us. Glaring down at him, I didn't bother to stop my hands from heating up. "Stay away from him," I hissed at him as he began to sit up.

He smirked, laughing a bit as he said, "Well this is a repeat, isn't it? A Mauler brat protecting useless creatures. And just like your pathetic father, you're too late." My shoulders tense and I glanced over my shoulder. Scar's left hand was pretty much black. It was just as he had said.

I was too late.

My hands shaking, I glared down at Kimblee. He noticed this and began smirking more. "You ready to fight like you actually mean it, Kid?" He asked. Taunting me, like always.

But this time I wouldn't have it. Running forward, I held nothing back as I punched him. He fell backwards, but I grabbed his collar before he could land. I began pulling him back up, and he grabbed my wrist. Kicking it off, I smashed it into the ground with my foot. I was in rage, and I didn't care who was around to see it. After all the trouble he's put us through, and all the pain he caused me, it was time he felt that.

He yelled a bit as I twisted my foot deeper into his wrist. Tired of just laying there, he reached toward my leg, but his wrist was only met with my right hand. "Don't think about it. See… You create explosions with the elements from people," I paused to bear down harder on his wrists and I smirked down at him, "But I have an unlimited stash of sulfur, and every bit of it's just waiting to blow your head off."

Finally, he managed to kick me in the stomach, throwing me off him. I used my hands to flip myself back to my feet before I hit the ground, and ignored the pain that shot through my right arm. We both ran at each other and I dodge his swing at my head. Grabbing his wrist, I elbowed him in the face as I mumbled about doing it for Marta. I then elbowed him again and heard a crack from his nose. "That was for Greed," I growled out before he grabbed my right arm and twisted it behind my back. I gritted my teeth as he twisted it to its limits. But I wouldn't yell. I wouldn't let him know he caused even more pain.

Glancing to the side, I spotted Scar running over, missing the left arm. I could only guess he destroyed it to last longer in this fight. The look of anger on his face matched how I felt. We both looked each other in the eyes and I knew what he was thinking. We both wanted Kimblee dead. As sick as I may have sounded, I did. We both lost too much because of him.

Silently, I nodded at Scar. Once he was close enough, I dug my heel into Kimblee's shoe and caused him to loosen his grip just enough so I could spin around. Facing him, I slammed my leg into his stomach. He flew back towards Scar, whose arm lit up as he neared Kimblee's back. Scar's arm shoved through Kimblee, blood gushing outward as Kimblee fell to the ground, lifeless.

Zolf J. Kimblee was finally dead.

I allowed myself to plop onto my butt, panting slightly. I didn't bother wiping Kimblee's blood from my face. My right arm felt utterly destroyed, even if it wasn't, and I was too emotionally and physically exhausted. Not to mention relieved. I kept repeating the line over and over, that he was dead. And every single time, it just made me feel better. No more worrying about that bastard being loose. He never would be again.

Hannah and Al ran to my side. Bending down, Hannah began to make sure the blood was, for the most part, Kimblee's. Al was asking if my arm was okay, but I ignored it as I looked up to Scar. "…_Thank you_," I mouthed to him weakly.

"I could say the same to you," Was his simply reply. I chuckled, having a sarcastic retort in my mind ("_You could, but you won't._") but not having the energy to actually word it out.

Scar turned to leave, and Al looked over at him. "Scar…"

He didn't bother sparing us another glance as he said, "I'm going to go do what you and your brother cannot." Al was already standing as Hannah began to help me up. Hearing rocks move, Scar's eyes widened as he spun back around. Just from his reaction, I knew what it had to be.

_But no… He's dead…_

Terror filled me I spun around as well, almost tripping Hannah up as Kimblee latched on to Al.

_He's… Alive?_

He grabbed Ed's pocket watch and threw it at Scar. Scar quickly raised his arms to block it, and the pocket watch fought against him. It opened and red stones back to fall out of it. Mine and Al's eyes widened at this; What was that there for? The stones dissolved into Scar's arm and Al voiced what I was wondering. "Come on, Al… Don't think I wouldn't have something under my sleeve," He said, smirking up at Al as he held on tightly. "You'll be the best bomb yet. I can feel it already," He said obsessively. Hannah and I watched in fear.

_"No matter what. Just take care of Al for me."_

I was already too weak to stand, how was I supposed to get there in time? No, I couldn't just give up like that. Unwrapping my arm from Hannah's neck, I began to push past my limits to get to Al and Kimblee. I had to protect him, even if it meant my own life. But that wouldn't happen anytime soon, because I was too slow. In a mere second, Al was transmuted. I couldn't feel myself breath as I watched the scene in front of me. Even so, I was still able to scream.

"AL!"

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	39. Neununddreißig! That's 39!

Between all the things that have been going on around here, I've forgotten to update earlier. I's sorry.

But here it is now!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Haha, she definitely pushes it doesn't she? But no worries, all will be well soon!

**Kyte:** Yay, I pull heartstrings. X3

**xXKaminari-TsubasaXx:** He's like a cockroach; never gives up.

**Katsekala:** Thank you! Kimblee's definitely a downer.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Poor Al. Dx You'll see what happens next now!

**Yumixjaganshi:** Lawlz, I'm sitting here imagining someone chanting to my story. I'm flattered~ Yay for strange looks!

**Rainbowdragongirl101:**  
(Chapter 24) – Haha! I loved that scene. That's from the ever awesome Kaijukote.  
(Chapter 38) – Mwahahaha, oh how evil I am! Thanks, I'm glad you like Riley! xD

**AirMage99:** He should, shouldn't he? And thank you! I'm glad you like it.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha.**

If I owned FullMetal Alchemist, Jean Havoc would have a special lady friend. Wink, Wink.  
But alas. I'm just a teenage writer.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine:  
**_Be Careful What You Wish For._

It… It couldn't be.

There was a dead silence in the air. Hannah could tell what was going on. She tried not to go into hysterics but it was getting harder and harder. As for me, I was on my hands and knees, staring at Al in desperation. He couldn't be… We came all this way… They came all this way to get their bodies back… And it was all going to be ruined because of _Kimblee_? Black was covering Al's legs and the lump in my throat was making it harder to breath. I couldn't let this happen. But how could I not?

"You bastard!"

Scar held Kimblee up by his collar, more enraged than I'd ever seen him. Kimblee was still smug… So damn smug…

Weakly, Kimblee began speaking. "My work is intricate. Only an explosives expert like myself can defuse it. But you'll have to find somebody else because I'm about to retire…," He was quieted when he coughed up blood. Smirking, he said, "No need to hurry… You still have plenty of time left. I've made his armor react slowly with the oxygen in the air, gradually spreading until he's completely black. I want him to have time to think about his death and reflect on his meaningless efforts of…"

And that was it.

Scar threw his body back to the ground and I looked down, racking my brain for any possible fix. I may have used sulfur, but I only knew a little about explosives. Even if I knew enough… My hands would probably kill him in a heartbeat. Thinking this only made me feel worse. Not only was I too stupid to help him, I was too useless to. Al began to panic and stepped back, only to have his foot collapse under the weight. He fell to the ground and I flinched at the sound of it. "…I'm scared," Was all he said afterward.

Damn it! I couldn't do anything! Why was I so helpless at the most important times? "Stay still, Alphonse Elric." I looked over to see Scar bend down beside Al. "I'm not sure what's happening with your body but we don't want to make it any worse. Try not to exert yourself."

He moved to touch Al, but a familiar voice stopped him. "I wouldn't touch him if I were you, Scarred Man."

Our eyes widened as we looked over to Lust. "Just leave us alone," Al shakily said. I began to stand, knowing that at least I could fight _her_ off.

Lust ignored Al as she looked at Scar. "That arm's only good for destroying things, not at remaking them. Now if Edward were here, he'd be able to transmute his brother into some other substance, disrupting Kimblee's alchemy and stopping this bomb," She explained as she walked toward us.

Hannah looked to me and I knew she wondered why I couldn't. "…These damn hands…," I hissed, clenching the rock ground in anger.

"You think that would work? Altering his composition?" Scar asked in surprise.

Lust grabbed Scar's hand. "Give up. He's a lost cause. You have to think of yourself now, and your own goal of forging the stone," She said, smirking slightly.

It was quiet for a moment, and Scar yanked away from Lust's grip. "Just as I thought. You aren't the woman my brother loved. She would never say something so heartless and cold," He growled out.

Scar began to put on a cloak as he bent beside Al. Hannah kneeled next to me, helping me sit up when she noticed I was going weak in the arm. "I'm sorry I don't live up to your expectations," Lust spat.

"I never expected you to. You could never be like her," He replied simply.

Lust showed a slight smile. "But if I had the stone, I'd be able to become her."

Growing tired of the conversation, Scar shook his head. "No, you wouldn't. The dead can never come back to life."

Frowning, Lust said nothing in return as Scar placed his hand on Al's armor. Hannah and I leaned forward in worry. "What are you going to do to him?" Lust asked with widened eyes. When he said nothing, she stepped forward angrily, "Tell me, damn it!"

"Stay back!" He demanded, holding up a silver locket. "Just shut your mouth and watch," He growled out, glaring at her. Once she quieted down, he tied the locket to Al's armor and placed his hand back on Al. Knowing what we were thinking, he glanced back at me quietly. I didn't know what he was planning, but I felt a mutual connection with him. He had the opportunity to see my parents at their best and he was returning their favor. How, I wasn't sure. This was for his brother, and the Mauler army. For her. Seeing the uncertain, yet hopeful look in his eye, I made no move to protest to what he was going to do, even though I probably should have.

He looked back to Al and clenched, gritting his teeth as the markings on his arm glowed a bright red. He let out a yell as he continued, the light getting brighter. My eyes widened when I realized what he was thinking. Was he… His arm sunk into Al's armor and he began pulling back. His agony-filled scream pierced the air as his arm was ripped from him. The light died down to show markings all along Al as Scar panted. "Now what have you done?" Lust asked him as he stood.

"That arm… Was given to me by my brother. He trapped the souls of the dying Ishbalins inside it by turning his own body into a transmutation circle," Scar explained.

Lust was quick to reply. "He did that for good reason, to create a Philosopher's Stone inside himself, which he gave to you." Her eyes widened in realization. "So that means…"

"I attached that locket to his armor so you can't get anywhere near him. You can only stand back and watch," He stated.

The two began to walk off, Lust protesting about his actions. Hannah stood, helping me as well, and we made our way over to Al. "W-What's going on? What did he do?" Hannah asked, looking to us both in panic.

Looking at Al, I sighed. "…He's turning Al into a Philosopher's Stone," I mumbled out, "It was the only way to save him…"

Surprise was clear on her face. Suddenly the numbness of the situation began wearing off. My arm began to sting even worse than it did before because of my fight with Kimblee. I began to heave my breaths in and out, the pain overtaking my concentration. My sight turned blurry and I let myself fall completely to the ground, panting as I tried to forget the pain. "Riley!" Hannah shouted, reaching forward to make sure I was even alive.

"Sorry… I'm leaving you with two cripples," I panted out. I attempted to smirk but I only gritted my teeth, holding my arm tightly. Then I realized something. Why it took so long, I don't know. Eyes widened, I jumped up but stumbled around a bit. Hannah quickly grabbed me, and I winced, "We have to get out of here!"

Hannah was even more confused than before. "What? Why?"

Glancing to Al, I frowned. "Scar… He has to go through with his original plan if we expect this to save Al. If he finishes that circle with us still in Lior, we'll be apart of the stone," I panted out. Hannah gasped in surprise and I said, "Al… No matter what, I'm coming back to make sure you're okay, alright? Just… Just wait."

"You should hurry," Al mumbled out. As much as it hurt me, I nodded and walked as quickly as I could, Hannah helping me.

At least ten minutes passed before we reached the edge of Lior. I began to fall and Hannah jerked around toward me. "Riley…!"

I winced at the impact but said nothing. Hannah quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, just far enough so that I wasn't in Lior anymore. I ignored the pain of the hard ground pushing against my hurt shoulder, but I ignored it. I turned to my back and looked up, just as the entire town was engulfed in red.

Hannah and I were almost blinded by the sight. Bright, large red light shot into the air, all throughout the town. It was coming closer and closer and, with what strength I had left, I clapped and placed my hands on the ground around us.

. . .

Minutes of silence passed as I was engulfed in total darkness. I thought I had passed out, until I heard Hannah groaning from beside me. Suddenly light broke through as Hannah jerked upward, throwing the sand off us. I smirked slightly, "Guess I couldn't protect us from everything."

Hannah stared down at me for a few moments and grinned, "We-We're alive."

"But is Al…?" I grumbled, my smirk fading. Hannah's eyes widened, remembering this. Standing up quickly, she grabbed my good arm and pulled me to my feet. Of course I stumbled a bit and she threw my around her shoulder. I winced, mumbling about how she could be a bit more gentle as she looked around. The entire town was gone. Everything – buildings, plants, people. All of it was gone.

Even Scar…

She began to panic, looking every which way. "I don't see him! It was for nothing! Where could he be?"

"Hannah…," I mumbled out. She ignored me as she continued rambling. "Hannah!" She began to hyperventilate at this point and I sighed, irritated. "H-Han…," I began coughing and she shut up, looking down at me in worry. Once I had my breath back, I pointed to our far left and mumbled out, "He's right there, idiot…"

Falling silent, Hannah looked in the direction I was pointing. Sure enough, Al stood in the distance, as metal-y as ever. Not only was Al over there, but Ed stood in front of him. The relief quickly set it when I realized that Scar could've killed Ed. But they were both alive. That was all that mattered. Hannah and I limped our way over as Lust appeared near them. They exchanged a few words, until Lust walked away. It was then Al noticed us. "Hannah! Riley! You're okay!" He shouted, waving over at us.

Ed looked over and his eyes widened at the sight. I could only give a lopsided grin and a small wave, but Hannah decided to wave her arm high into the air. Because of this, my own arm slipped of her shoulder and I fell to the ground. I caught myself with my hand, but yelped when I realized it was my right hand. From the sudden pressure, it collapsed so I quickly held myself up with my left arm. Eyes tightly closed, I growled from the pain that shot through my entire arm, which began leaking to my chest as well. "Riley!" Ed shouted loudly in concern before darting over.

Al followed behind and Hannah gasped, twirling back over to me. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

Glancing up at her, I glared, pouting as I shouted, "You're trying to get rid of me, you and Winry both!"

She continued apologizing as she held me back up. By the time I got to my knees, Ed was in front of me with a hard glare on his face. With hands on my shoulders, he turned me to look at him. I hissed at this but he ignored it. "What happened? Who did this?" He growled out as Al finally reached us as well.

At first I glanced to Hannah, but then I shared a nervous look with Al. "It's a really long story and I doubt you want to-"

"Every word," He interrupted.

I sighed as Hannah put my arm back around her shoulders, causing Ed to let go. "Well… Al and I got into a fight with Kimblee shortly after you left… That kind of messed up my arm again, and then I got into another fight with him when we got here," I grumbled out, glancing away.

"Damn it, Riley," Ed grumbled before taking Hannah's place under my arm. She thanked him and began rubbing her tired neck.

Quickly, I pulled away from him, stuttering as I did. "I-I can walk on my own, really…," I grumbled out, holding my arm as I tried standing. I couldn't let him help. Not after what I had decided not too long ago.

But I began to fall, and Ed quickly caught me. Throwing my arm over his shoulder, he furrowed his brows. "What's gotten into you?" I only sighed, shaking my head as we set off away from Lior.

. . .

"You're really heavy after two hours, you know," Ed grunted out.

He had been carrying me on his back since we left what used to be Lior. Hannah needed a break from helping me, and I didn't think it would be safe for me to touch Al, what with my hands. So I was stuck on Ed. I didn't want to be now that I realized I felt something for him, but if Hannah had to walk me any more, she'd collapse. Normally I would've skinned him for saying what he did but I didn't even have the energy to glare. So I continued resting my head on his shoulder as I lazily replied, "You think I want to have to sit on the back of a guy so short I'm not even two feet from the ground?"

Ed twitched as he spat out, "I see you're back to normal." Hopefully it'd stay that way, too.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. "Sorry about this, though. Well, sorry about everything, really, but especially this… I know it's a burden," I said under my breath, not wanting Hannah or Al to hear me.

I could feel him glance back at me and heard him let out a long sigh. "Don't start beating yourself up, Riley. This wasn't your fault, it was Kimblee's… If he was still alive, I'd probably kill him myself," He grumbled out.

Grinning, I felt myself relax after hearing this. I felt as thought my actions were validated, like I wasn't becoming some sick monster. It was nice. Apparently I was relaxed more than I thought, because I soon felt myself falling asleep.

. . .With Ed. . .  
(Well, Technically _From_ Ed Because He's Being Dramatically Overprotective.)

"Riley, you have to stay awake!" Ed shouted, looking at her from over his shoulder.

The girl groaned, flinching slightly as her eyes opened a bit. "Trying…," Was all she could mutter out, only taking Ed's worry to more extreme levels. It had been a few hours since Riley had first fell asleep on Ed's back, and with every hour her health seemed to deteriorate dramatically. She couldn't even produce complete sentences anymore. Ed was surprised she was still breathing. Her arm had stopped bleeding finally, but he could feel blood stains on his shoulder and chest from where her arm hung.

Riley Mauler was, to put it simply, dying. And that terrified Ed.

He was moving as fast as he could, despite his fatigue. Al was right behind him and Hannah slowly walked behind them both, exhausted. But he didn't care about how far behind Hannah was. All he knew was that Riley needed medical care as soon as possible and the longer it took them to get to the Rockbells, the worse Riley got. "_Hang in there, Riley, just like last time… I'm not losing you_," He thought to himself as he pushed himself further.

Ed jerked to a stop and looked back to the two with him. "Al, Hannah, hide," He said before turning quickly to the woods on his left.

He ran to the dirt and, as carefully as he could, bent down. Clapping, he placed his hands on the dirt as the others ran to his side. "What's wrong?" Al asked, confused as to what his brother was doing.

"Just get down and stay quiet," He said, throwing the blanket he transmuted over Hannah and Al. The two sat under the blanket quietly, still confused, as Ed leaned against a tree. He peered around it to see Breda and Falman walking down the rocky path, complaining about betraying Ed and Al and how they had to do it to keep Mustang out of trouble. "The Colonel… Well if he has to go down for this, then so be it," He muttered under his breath. He glanced to Riley, knowing that if she were actually aware of her surroundings, she probably would've hit him for that comment. She hated it when he badmouthed the Colonel. She usually hid her annoyance about it, but Ed wasn't stupid. He could tell.

Hearing bushes move behind him, Ed's eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder. Havoc and Fuery stood there, Havoc pointing his gun at Ed with a frown. The boy quickly stood, turning to face the two so that Riley wasn't in the line of fire if Havoc did in fact shoot. "Hey Ed, it's nice to see you again…," Fuery said, a nervous grin on his face.

"Huh… Well you have to give the Colonel his credit. He told us you'd take this old shortcut to get back home," Havoc said, gun still on Ed. A few seconds passed and he smiled slightly, lowering his gun. "Look. No hard feelings?"

Ed was quick to respond with, "Not going."

Fuery's brows furrowed. "But Ed, please…"

"I'm not a military dog anymore," He said bitterly. He knew he should've put Riley down first, but he sure didn't like the idea of it. As long as she was on his back or in between Hannah and Al, she'd be fine. But not on the ground where she could get hurt. Deciding this, he charged at Havoc. His hand grasped over the gun after Havoc aimed it back at him. "Go ahead and shoot. When that bullet ricochets off my hand, who do you think gets hurt?" He asked.

After a few more silent seconds, the blanket was suddenly thrown into the air when Al jumped up. "Stop, please!"

Out of shock, Havoc jumped and pulled the trigger on instinct. The impact pushed him and Ed both backwards. He began to catch himself but when he felt the weight of Riley slide off him, his eyes widened. With feet firm on the ground, he twisted around and caught the still out-cold Riley. Holding her up with his arm, he looked to Fuery and Havoc to see the damage done. Havoc's hand bled, while Fuery held his eye in pain. "I'm sorry, but I had to do it," Ed told them before picking Riley up in his arms and taking off. "Come on you two!" He shouted to Hannah and Al, who both apologized to the officers before following.

They reached the rocky path, where Breda and Falman stopped them. Sighing, Ed gently placed Riley down and ran at them, clapping his hands. Within seconds, their uniforms ballooned outwards, leaving them bouncing up and down. Ed ran back to Riley, and saw her eyes just barely open. She looked paler than he'd ever seen her, and her breaths were long and heavy. "…It's okay," He muttered to her before grabbing her by the arms. She managed a hiss as he pulled her arms over him. "I'm sorry," He apologized under his breath, putting her on his back before he ran off. Hannah and Al shared a glance and quickly followed.

They ran down the path and Ed and Al landed on the same rock. Quickly, Ed jumped away. "Brother?" Al asked in surprise.

"I told you Al, who knows what could happen if we touch each other. Especially when I'm holding Riley, too, that would just make whatever reaction that would happen worse," He explained. Before anyone could reply, rocks shot up. The three looked over to see several soldiers coming at them. Out of instinct, Ed clapped and dust rose. With it, came a large rock ball. Hannah screamed, trying to balance herself on the top while Ed tried making sure Riley didn't fall off him.

Maybe that wasn't a good idea.

The ball sped down the path, knocking soldiers away like bowling pins. It was working, until a snap sounded. Instantly after, flames exploded the ball into millions of pieces. Ed began nearing the ground, along with Hannah and Al. He moved his hands to his back, gripping onto Riley as tight as he could. Seconds later, Ed slammed into the ground, Riley on top of him. Hannah fell on her butt, groaning as she rubbed it. The three coughed from the dust as Roy's voice reached their ears. "You know, running makes you look guilty."

They looked back around to see Roy ready to snap. Winry and Sheska were handcuffed and attached to Riza. "Ed! Al!" Winry shouted.

"Winry?" Ed asked in surprise before he glared up at Roy. "We're running because we knew you'd come after us. Isn't that what every dog does when it's chased?"

Roy was quick to reply with, "Yes, but a trained dog never defies orders from an owner."

"Then I'm a stray," Ed retorted.

"Really?" Roy asked, "Then maybe we should put you down."

Finally, Riza stepped forward. She needed to stop this. "Edward, just come with us, okay? We're not out to hurt you, we just want to get to the bottom of what happened in Lior."

Footsteps sounded behind them and the three looked back to see Falman aiming his gun. When he heard a small gasp of pain, Ed looked down to Riley and noticed her injured arm had been scratched up from the fall. "_She's just getting worse…_" Frowning, Ed didn't look to any of the officers as he said, "I'll never go back there. You'll have to kill me first."

"So, what? You're going to shirk off responsibilities?" Roy asked.

Ed glared, "Say what you want. I'm in control now!" He quickly clapped his hands, placing them on the rocks by the stream. Water shot high into the air and once it landed, soaked Mustang, even his gloves. "Try making sparks now!" He looked to Al and nodded at him and Hannah to follow. Turning, Ed took off. Al and Hannah weren't far behind. They continued running and Mustang combined his abilities with Armstrong. Soon, several pieces of rock were shooting at them at incredible speed.

Ed turned to face Riley away from it as he hid Hannah behind him as well. Before the rocks could reach him, Al jumped in front of him. The rocks hit his armor, but only fell to the ground afterwards. "I create a large spear with my fists and send it to the target," Armstrong started.

Smirking, Roy finished with, "And I use fire to heat the inside and burst the spear into a hundred little daggers."

With a bitter smirk of his own, Ed replied, "I bet that was pretty useful in Ishbal!"

Roy frowned. A nerve struck, he used another match and sent flames at a rock boulder behind them. Winry's eyes widened as the rock began falling toward the four. Al held his arms up, trying to protect Ed and Hannah as Ed quickly moved Riley to his front. Once the dust cleared, the brothers and Hannah looked around to see that a barrier of rocks was now preventing them from going anywhere away from Roy. "He's got us trapped," Hannah murmured out.

Winry sighed in relief, but Roy began advancing on them all. He was quick to notice Riley's state, along with the exhaustion clear on Hannah's face. Both factors only made matters more serious. He continued walking toward them. Ed glared at Roy, ready to do whatever he needed to get away.

"STOP!"

Roy did. Winry fell to her knees, eyes closed from the worry. "Please, just stop…"

Sighing, Roy never looked back at the girl. Ed and Al were surprised to say the least at Winry's outburst. "I once executed two people. Two doctors. 'There are no sides, just patients.' That's what they said as they treated our fallen enemies in Ishbal. But the people they were healing would just rise up again and fight us. The military asked them to stop… But they wouldn't. And their makeshift hospital was becoming a den for insurgents. I got my orders in the morning. And I shot them that night. Afterwards I tried to kill myself… But was too much of a coward. So I took an oath instead. To never follow unreasonable commands again. To reach a position where I wouldn't have to follow them, and I've stayed true to that."

Everyone was in total silence. They were all surprised to hear this story. Well, other than Armstrong, Riza and Riley (But only because _she_ was out cold). "I'm not chasing you because I was commanded to. I'm doing it because I'm pissed," Roy started firmly, staring Ed dead in the eye as he shouted out, "Now why the hell did you two run away without asking for my help first?"

Ed's eyes widened. He was silent, before a small smirk appeared on his lips. Roy glared at him in anger, until Armstrong placed his hand on Roy's shoulder. Looking at the brothers, Armstrong asked, "Tell us, boys, please. What happened?"

None of the group that was actually awake said a word at first. It wasn't Hannah's place, and Ed was stubborn. So, Al spoke. "Furher King Bradley… Is a homunculus."

Once more, everyone was silent in shock. "When you say Homunculus…," Falman started, "You mean an artificial human?"

"Yes," Ed finally replied, looking from Falman back to Mustang. "They're after the Philosopher's Stone, and they're pulling all the strings in the military."

"That can't be true…," Mustang muttered out under his breath, eyes wide.

Armstrong stepped forward to exclaim, "The Furher had no idea about the experiments going on in Laboratory Five! The military was being infiltrated without his knowledge."

Standing up, Al was quick to rebuttal this. "He had the mark of the Ouroboros! I saw it myself! What else do you think that could mean?"

"You told us about a Homunculus with the ability to shapeshift," Armstrong offered.

Ed was quick to shoot it down with, "The Furher's Secretary… Is also a Homunculus."

Sheska suddenly became embarrassed and began to float off into her own world. So she wasn't an alien?… Riza leaned forward, ignoring her. "If that's true, that there's Homunculi inside the military, what purpose do they serve? What is it they hope to gain?" No one could answer that. A few soldiers reached the group and after a few words between Roy and Armstrong, Armstrong excitedly walked toward them, rambling about a job well down.

What group was still there then took off, the girls no longer with their hands tied. Roy took hold of Riley to give Ed a break, but that didn't stop Ed from glancing over at them every five seconds to make sure she was still breathing.

"_Like I said, Riley… I'm not losing you._"

* * *

Chapter Translations!  
"Trenta Sette," is Italian.  
"Trisdesmit Astoni," is Latvian.  
And this chapter is in German!

Here's a preview of Chapter Forty, because I haven't given a preview in a long time.

Healing has happened.  
Discoveries are made.  
Truths are told.

Asses are shown.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	40. Cорока! That's 40!

Yes, forty chapters! WOO! This is a huge achievement. I've never written forty chapters for a story before. My first time! XD  
We also broke three hundred reviews on that last chapter, so thank you guys so much. I **LUV** yew!

Because this is a wondrous moment, this fortieth chapter is in honor of ComicCon, whose participants not only had to experience Westboro Baptist Church in person, but held a _counter-protest_. All in the name of nerdom. From one nerd to thousands more, I salute you.

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Dragon of Twilight:** Drama FTW! But no worries, Riley will pull through. She always does.  
Haha, I don't. As far as other languages go, I only know some Japanese and even less Spanish. I'll be learning German in school, but that's it. All the other translations I either get off freedict, or Bing Translator.

**Rainbowdragongirl101: **Riley would be very pissed about that if she were awake! Lawlz, I'm glad you liked Hannah's parts! I tried to give her a bit of a comedic edge since Riley couldn't be the comic relief. Yay, cookies! (I swear, with all this food you guys give me… Ohuhuhu~)

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Aww, cheer up! It gets happier!… Eventually.

**AirMage99:** Haha, I wish it were that simple! She's a bit too stubborn for that, I'm afraid. And yay, Kimblee's death! (I normally wouldn't be celebrating that.)

**yumiXjaganshi:** If only Riley were awake to witness it herself, huh? xD

**-sAkUrA-fAn-94:** Ohmahgush, I love that review. I'm so glad you like the story! Top Five, eh? (Blushing.) And I love that you love Ed and Riley's relationship. I always try to make relationships steady moving in my stories, so it's nice that that gets noticed! Thank you so much!

**CalleighBladedancer:** Why thank you! I'm glad I can keep it entertaining. xD

**YaddaGirl:** Does that make me your addiction-supplier then? x'D I kid, but thank you! I'm glad you like it so far.

**Katsekala:** Ohoho, if only he would soon!

**ToshiroHitsugayagirlfriend:** Thank you so very much!

**Leenaluvsanime4eva:** Wow, thanks! I'm glad you like the story! And Ohuhuhuhu, the drama ensues~(Well, okay, it ensued until the introduction for this chapter… But that isn't the point.)

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. Riley, Hannah, and anything else in this story not in official merchandise belongs to me. Butwouldn'tbeawesomeifitwereofficial? 8D  
Now I'm going to go fatten up on all this food you guys keep spoiling me with…

* * *

**Chapter Forty:  
**_Emotional Connections_

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICROSCOPIC HALF-PINT WHO DIDN'T GROW UP BECAUSE HE DIDN'T DRINK MILK?"

I flinched at the sudden noise as I came to, and sudden pain shot up in my arm. I groaned, grabbing my hurting arm, which gripped the cloth by my head. "Ed…," I grumbled. Feeling someone staring at me, I ignored it as I tried continuing my sentence. "Shhhh…" The cloth by my head began to shake back and forth as I heard light chuckling above me.

Wait… Wha?

Finally I bothered opening my eyes and looked up to see a blurrier version of Mustang. "…Must…Ang?" I murmured.

He smirked down at me, "Glad to see _your_ eyes open." I looked away to figure out what in the hell was going on, and saw several people I knew. Sheska, Winry, Hannah, Riza, Breda and even Block. I looked further to see Al running down a familiar path.

So where was Ed…? I knew I heard him.

I felt Mustang walking forward but didn't protest. We weren't in or around any military base, that much I figured from the trees and gravel path. I was too tired to protest even if we were, really. So just let my head rest back against him, trying to ignore the intense pain. He could tell I was, and sighed, shaking his head at me. After a few seconds, Mustang stopped walking and I glanced to my left to see Ed and Maria Ross on the porch of the Rockbell House. On the ground, was a blond man, looking old enough to be a father.

"Don't you know it's not nice to wake a cripple so abruptly, Ed?" I spat out weakly, only to have to pant slightly afterward from the breath it took.

Ed, who was glaring down at the man like a madman on the loose, quickly turned to look over at his, his glare replaced with a startled look. "R-Riley… You're… You're alive."

Scowling, I held my arm close to me as I muttered, "What are you talking about? Of course I am. Now let me sleep, will you? I'm tired…"

Ed twitched slightly, looking at me incredulously. "That's… You've been _sleeping _this whole time…?" Blushing slightly, he scowled and walked over. "Come on…," He grumbled, rushing over to take me from Mustang, who only smirked. I hissed as he gripped my shoulder, and I elbowed him on the chest in return. He grunted a bit and loosened up, grumbling about manners and me being a lazy-ass (Which I didn't understand at all – Okay, _maybe a little_) as he trudged into the house to get Pinako.

He walked into a bedroom and placed me down. I said nothing as I looked to the side, blushing slightly. "How long was I out anyway?" I finally asked.

Ed stopped from turning to the door, and stood there, looking down at me. "A few hours," He replied, "I'll explain what happened during that time once Pinako's fixed your arm up as best she can, alright?" I nodded silently and he sighed. "You should really try to not get hurt as much as you do, you know… I'm going to have a heart attack by the time I'm seventeen if you keep this up," He grumbled, leaving to get Pinako.

I scowled, but didn't bother arguing. That was just his way of saying he cared. His horrible, horrible way…

. . .

The sun was beginning to set in Resembool and, as luck would have it, I had already slept my fatigue away. The others were almost ready for supper, but I wasn't. I just wanted some fresh air after being cooped up in whom I assumed was Winry's bedroom and in agony all day. I just need to get outside. And so, I did. When the girls were all talking in the kitchen, Ed was in his temporary room and the officers were discussing matters in the living room, I snuck out to the porch.

Ed had explained what happened when I was out while Pinako bandaged my arm. Then she lectured Ed about taking better care of himself _and_ his friends. I would've defended him, but it was too funny to pass up. That was why I need to be outside for a while. Taking in the nice atmosphere, I closed my eyes, resting my head against the door. Ahh, it was so peaceful.

"I'm sorry, but I never got the chance to get your name." And there went the peace.

Jumping, I jerked my head around to see the same man from before. He seemed to be middle-aged, maybe older. With long darkened blond hair pulled back, a few strands hung here and there. He had facial hair, but it seemed to add to his "mystique," if you could call it that. He was tall, that was for sure. But the thing that caught my attention was his eyes.

I had seen those eyes a lot lately.

"…Sorry about that. I'm Riley Mauler, a friend of Ed's," I stated carefully, still watching him closely. I had a pretty good idea of who he was at that point. "And you're… Their father?" I asked.

He shot me a smile and nodded. "I take it Edward has told you about me, then."

Unsure of how to put it nicely, I just shook my head. "No, not really… I figured it out on my own," I paused to motion to his face, "You have the same eyes." Seeing the grin that appeared on his face, I blushed when I realized how that sounded. "I-I mean… I am a State Alchemist so I have to notice these sorts of things…" Growing more embarrassed, I stepped back and felt myself slipping backwards. Looking over my shoulder, I realized I was much closer to the steps than I first thought.

The man in front of me quickly grabbed my wrist, and I let out a loud yell when I felt my arm get pulled. Once he made sure I was to my feet, he quickly let me go. Gritting my teeth, I held my arm in pain. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," He said in a tone that made me think _he_ thought he was talking to some fragile little thing.

"No, it's not you… I got into a fight with someone who weakened my arm and then it's just been beaten worse since," I explained, flinching.

He nodded and began eyeing the arm. "I could try to strengthen it back to its original state, if you'd like?" He offered. At first I wasn't sure about it, but when I felt the pain from my arm, I nodded. And so, he clapped and grabbed my arm. My eyes widened as I felt the insides of my arm move. I looked back up at the man in wonder. Just who was he exactly…?

With a small smile, he looked me in the eye. "I take it you have feelings for my son," He said softly.

Blushing, I was going to retaliate when I decided I shouldn't. This was his _father_ – If I was going to lie to someone about this, it shouldn't be a man who could tell just by looking at us. Not to mention he was performing alchemy on my arm and could potentially disintegrate it if he wanted. Sighing, I glanced to the house quietly. "…I think I do," I finally admitted, "But it doesn't matter."

"And why not?" He asked as he still looked at my eyes, even if I didn't make eye contact. He was quiet, no sign of judgment in anything about him. Maybe he wasn't as bad as Ed thought.

I rubbed the back of my neck with my good hand, smiling bitterly. "A lot of reasons. For one, it would just get in their way. They've come so far… I won't be the one to stop them because of something like this. And besides, I'm sure Ed will think pretty low of me soon." His brows furrowed and I knew he wanted an explanation. "I plan on staying a State Alchemist, even when this is over. Once Ed finds that out… He'll probably want nothing to do with me."

The Elric began to chuckle, making me feel like I was going through Déjà vu. I looked over at him curiously and remained quiet and confused. With a small smile, he said as light around his hand on my arm began dying down, "Give yourself some credit. I've never seen a man act so concerned for someone he could hate just because of a decision like that. Ask _him_ if you don't believe me." Blushing slightly, I realized just how much he was like Ed. I felt like I was actually looking at Ed, not this man. These two people were almost exactly alike… And Ed hated him. I couldn't stop staring at him. I had only known him for a day yet I almost felt comfortable him, just as I did Ed.

And then the door swung open.

Just as the man turned to look to the door, I heard Ed's angry voice shout, "You bastard!" And before I could stop it or even know it was going to happen, Ed was in between us. He grabbed the man's wrist and yanked it off of my arm before smashing his auto-mail fist right in the center of his father's face. The man fell to the ground on the porch and I tried to tell Ed to relax, but he interrupted me, glaring down at the man. "What gives you the right to touch her?"

I was in surprise at the outburst, but the man only chuckled, wiping his chin. "You hit harder when you're protecting someone, Son…"

Ed was about to charge at him again, but I tripped him over. Landing on his back, he grunted before looking up at me, shocked. "R-Riley?"

"He was just trying to fix my arm, Ed," I said, looking down at him. "Have some decency!" Were my last words before I walked inside.

With Ed and Hohenheim

The door shut behind Riley and Ed stared after her in surprised confusion. He heard her yell from upstairs - hadn't he done the right thing? He was trying to help her. Hearing Hohenheim chuckle, he quickly glared over at him, "What's so funny, old man?"

The sun was almost completely down at this point. Even so, there was just enough light outside to see the smallest change of emotion on anyone's face. "She's definitely a one-of-a-kind, Edward. Stubborn and passionate yet still so insecure… And I can see she's got some power over my boy already," He said casually, still sitting on the floor of the porch.

Ed quickly stood and glared down at him. "Don't you think I know that?" He spat out before blushing madly. Hohenheim laughed as Ed protested loudly, "I meant the one-of-a-kind part!"

Hohenheim quickly calmed as he looked Ed in the eye. "Tell me, do you have feelings for her or do you hit people that touch any girl you know?"

The blush on the younger Elric's face deepened but his expression was far from flustered. Glaring down at Hohenheim, he said, "How I may or may not feel about Riley is none of your damn business. But if you knew what was best for you, stay away from her." With that said, he turned and walked back inside, slamming the door in the process.

With Riley

I let out a loud yawn as I stretched my left arm high into the air. I paused, but slowly began to stretch my right arm as well. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as it had been hurting the past two days. Grinning, I began to massage my right wrist as I thought over what the man had done. Not only did he not need a circle, but he did alchemy on the human body without a sweat. I could tell he was just, if not more, as advanced as Blackburn. He was more than just Ed and Al's dad.

By the time I was done thinking it all over, my grin was long gone. Ed was such a hothead, I knew I couldn't ask him anything about his dad. Al wouldn't know and Winry probably wouldn't either… Pinako may tell me a few things, but not nearly what I wanted to know. Sighing, I decided to head downstairs and see what everyone was up to, and maybe lecture Ed about what 'defense' meant.

When I reached the first floor, I saw Ed staring out the door silently. I walked over just to the point where I could see what was going on, and saw Al turn to their father, "Let's go, Dad." He turned and began to walk off.

Their father glanced to Ed before quickly following Al. No one said anything for a few minutes, until Ed turned to head back upstairs. He spotted me but said nothing. We stared a few seconds and I began to blush slightly. Was it just me or did he seem… Different, somehow? Silently, Ed walked past me and I sighed, looking to Hannah and Winry. "What the hell did I miss?"

. . .

"…Can I help you?"

Ed's brow twitched continuously as he tried to eat his breakfast in peace. Unfortunately for him, I wouldn't let him off the hook just yet, and he didn't even know why. The thing was, I didn't know either. Which was exactly why I had been sitting across from him, staring at him for the past forty-five minutes. Everyone was up by now but they weren't inside the kitchen to see this. But the thing was, Ed had been looking… Different. Not really in an obvious sort of way but in a more mature sort of way.

Then again, he hadn't been wearing his red trench coat… And his jacket had been open. And that exact morning, his hair was down _and_ he hadn't put on his jacket yet. That had to be it, right? I mean, come on, you could totally see his hard earned muscles now.

…And what the _hell_ did I just say?

Hiding my reddening face behind my cup, I continued trying to figure it out. Just what was it about him that made me have these… _Feelings_… Anyway? There had to be something nice about him. I just had to think real hard about it.

…

After a long period of silence, I sighed and shook my head, "I just don't get it."

"Get what?" He grumbled, scowling. Shortly after he asked me this, Al ran into the room. We both looked up at him curiously as he stopped at the side of the table and told us that their father was missing. With a small snort, Ed muttered out casually, "If I'd have known he was gonna leave this early, I would've beat him up yesterday."

My chin resting on my palm, I lazily glanced across the table at the blonde. "To be technical, you kind of did," I commented casually.

Al looked between the two of us silently as Ed's scowl deepened. "That wasn't anywhere near the beating I'd like to give him… That was just to protect you from him," He said stubbornly as he looked to his empty plate.

Rolling my eyes, I continued leaning my weight on the table. "He was just reversing what Blackburn did to my arm. You're such a worrywart."

Turning serious, Ed looked me dead in the eyes. "And you're positive that's _all_ he did? You promise he didn't do anything else to you?" He asked, leaning over as though he'd intimidate me into answering honestly. _Even though I already was answering honestly…_

"…" I was silent, causing Al and Ed to both lean in, thinking their father actually did something. So with one simple word, I looked to the Elric across from me and said, "Pervert."

Eyes widened, Ed jerked back to a straight position in his chair. "I didn't mean it like that! You're the one that's inappropriate!"

Instantly, I replied with, "Says the one who walks around the house in his boxers at midnight."

Ed blushed madly as he stared over at me nervously. "You… You saw me?" He stuttered out.

Smirking slyly, I nodded with closed eyes. "Kind of hard not to when my room's right next to the stairs. Nice ass by the way," I said, like I was talking about the weather, as I stood from my chair and went to refill my cup.

It took me all my might not to burst out laughing at the poor boy, who by this point was staring so low to the ground, his bangs hid his scarlet face. "Shouldn't that be embarrassing for you to say, Riley?" He grunted out.

I only laughed at this, when Al quickly began waving his hands around. "I'm not kidding about this, you two! Let's go find him, now!"

Ed's attitude changed back to his casual self as he waved his hand dismissively. "Take it from me, Al, he's long gone by now…," He said, not bothering to look up at Al.

"Fine! Then I'll go alone!" Al exclaimed.

He turned to leave and I sighed, feeling a bit bad for Al. But before he could even reach the door, Mustang's voice came through the room. "Wait." We all paused, looking over at the Colonel, who had just walked in with Riza. He exchanged looks with the three of us as he said, "None of you will be leaving here for a while."

"We got a call from Falman at the station," Riza started, "The Investigation group has arrived."

Mustang nodded and stated, "We're going to redirect them back to Central."

Smirking, Ed looked up to Mustang as he leaned on the table. Instantly, I directed my eyes elsewhere as the two continued. "You sure that's smart? Covering for a couple of fugitives…," Ed said casually.

"I don't fully believe your story yet, Elric," Mustang said simply, "So I intend to find out the truth about the Furher's connection with this all on my own."

The door opened as if on cue, and Sheska walked in with a frown. "If you found out that everything Edward said was true…" Once the girl trailed off, Mustang gave a slight smile. He began to walk past her, and patted her on the shoulder before leaving silently.

Riza followed him, but stopped in the doorway. She turned and looked to Ed and me. Her eyes shook slightly, but she saluted nonetheless. I smiled a bit, saluting in return as Ed waved. "Well now," Pinako started, walking into the room from behind Sheska. She smirked up at us all and said, "I think we should put you in the basement until it's safe to come out of hiding." The brothers began to protest, and Sheska laughed at them mockingly. "You too, girl," Was all Pinako said in response to her.

Sheska jumped, staring down at Pinako in surprise. "Huh?" Shortly after, Hannah picked the exact wrong time to come downstairs…

. . .

"Brother? Where do you think Dad went?" Al asked as we all sat in the deep, dark basement of the Rockbell house. It was deep, and it was dark. And the several auto-mail limbs that hung from the walls just made it even creepier.

Hannah sat in between Sheska and Al, mumbling about her bad timing and how she hated us all. I was stuffed between Ed and a box. Joy… Ed scowled at his brother, "Will you shut up about that? What I want to know is how the Colonel is planning to check on the truth about the Furher and that woman."

"Yeah…," Al mumbled out, now starting to get curious about that as well, "That Secretary couldn't have been in the military for more than four years though."

Ed was silent before replying simply with, "I know." I sighed, looking up at the ceiling as I racked my brain for anything.

_"He shouldn't worry about something he doesn't have to. Or get bombed out with trivial things," Maes replied calmly. "Besides, if it's really coming from the inside, there's a good chance our lines have been tapped."_

_I nodded in agreement, "He has a good point. Depending on who on the inside it is, communicating right now is on the back burner."_

_Before he left completely, I ran to the door, grabbing hold of his arm. "If you find anything out, you'll come back and tell me before you act on it, won't you?"_

No… Was that… About the Furher? My eyes widened. Maes knew. He found out everything. From the Homunculi to the Ishbalin War. He found it all out, and that was why he was killed… Because he knew too much… Was that really it? I looked downwards, feeling my hands begin to shake at the realization. It was so obvious, yet I never added it together till just then?

"It can't be…," I heard Sheska say.

Quickly, I looked over at her knowing she was thinking the same as me. "Sheska…," I warned under my breath.

Ed, assuming Sheska was just in shock, looked back to the ground. Suddenly, he realized something. "I get it… They started the war for the Philosopher's Stone. That must be the reason. Ingredients," He said as he looked back to Al.

Al was silent at first. "So someone might create the Philosopher's Stone using the Grand Arcanum," He wondered aloud, catching on as well. "They'd go that far?"

Glaring, Ed grumbled, "The whole thing was designed by those Homunculi…"

"…So that's it," Sheska mumbled.

With narrowed eyes, I shook my head at her. "Sheska," I warned, voice firmer than before.

She only ignored me. "Hughes must have figured out that much," She said, looking downward.

"Sheska!" I snapped harshly, glaring over at her. Hannah began inching away, knowing what was going on.

"That's why they killed him," She finished. Al gasped loudly. Ed's eyes widened, his pupils dilated.

Seconds later, a hole was formed in the floor of the first floor. Ed and Al flew through it, Ed screaming, "I'M GOING TO KILL THOSE BASTARDS!" He rushed to the door but Winry blocked his path. Hannah and Sheska ran forward, holding Al back, who protested just as angrily as his brother. Ed stopped, dead in his tracks. Grabbing Winry by the shoulders, he growled out, "Did you know!"

Eyes softening, Winry looked away. "I'm sorry… I've known for a little while now, Edward."

He glared before his eyes widened. "Wait a minute…" That was when he rounded on me, who stood in the corner solemnly. "You stayed with Hughes' family after we left to heal… How long have you, of all people, been keeping this from us?" He shouted at me.

I winced, looking downwards as the moments played over in my head. From running around the entire town to… To finally finding him. "…I'm sorry," I choked out. "But I was the one that found him."

They both went quiet. Ed made his way over to me and I knew what he was going to do. Winry began to warn him to calm down, but it was too late for him to calm down. He reached me and I looked down, bracing for impact. But instead, all I got were his hands ramming into the wall in other side of my head to keep me pinned there. The surprise and the noise had my wince as he glared me straight in the eye. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?" He hissed out.

I turned away from him. My eyes were fixed on the ground in shame. "…I couldn't even look at my pocket watch without bursting into tears… How could I possibly have the strength to tell you two that it was my fault Maes Hughes was dead?" I whispered out.

"Your fault?" He asked, eyes narrowed to show his clear confusion.

And suspicion…

My knees were about to give out on me, I could tell. Fists clenched, I tried keeping my own emotions in check. "I knew… I knew where he was going but I didn't bother to go with him. And even when I knew something was wrong… I could've found him sooner… I'm so sorry, Ed…"

"That's enough!" Sheska shouted to Ed, "Riley's been through enough already, stop pestering her! Just come back downstairs, the both of you!"

Ed let go of the wall around me and spun to glare at Sheska. "You've got to be kidding me! If Hughes got killed then it was our fault for putting him in that situation!" He shouted before growling out, "He was our friend…"

He turned, running back to the door when Pinako came to everyone's rescue. By that point, I let myself cave and fall to the ground. Everything I tried to ignore was coming back up all over again. "When are you going to grow up?" Pinako screamed, stopping Ed in his tracks. "Colonel Mustang didn't keep you in the dark out of malice, you morons! I've heard about this Hughes guy. It sounds like he was a great man. But Mustang doesn't want you to be driven by thoughts of revenge. He wants you to realize that there are more important things in life. I bet your friend Hughes would have agreed."

"…Yeah, but…," Ed only trailed off into silence.

I felt Hughes' daggers in my pockets and began to think back to that day. "I went to his funeral," I muttered. The others looked to me, except for Ed. "…I didn't have the guts to attend as a soldier so I just watched from a distance. Mustang was the only one who bothered to make sure I was still sane." Smirking slightly, I stared down at the ground. "The man you all call selfish let me sit there sobbing into his arms. He was the only one who told me it wasn't my fault…"

. . .

It was silent in the bedroom as I lay on the bed in peace. After my little episode, I told the others to give me my space. They all had, the entire house in a tense atmosphere. But I didn't care. I was pretty much numb all over, lying in bed as I faced the wall. I couldn't sleep but it was better than being out of the room, where others could be.

When I heard the door slowly open, I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone. Boots thudded across the floor and I knew right away that it was Ed. I could hear him plop down on the floor beside the bed. "That was why you were crying that night… Wasn't it?" When I said nothing, he sighed and said, "I know you're awake, Riley." Once more, I was silent.

Finally, I rolled over and stared at him dully. We were probably eye-level with him sitting by the bed. Now he could see the tear-stained cheeks and I could see his exhausted face. Ed winced slightly, glancing away as he smirked bitterly, "Come on, did you really have to let me see you like that?"

"Does it make you less angry at me for not telling you?" I asked dully. Seeing him nod, I replied simply with, "Then yes."

He sighed, frowning as he realized I wasn't in any good mood. "I'm sorry about earlier. I should have realized you were still trying to deal with it. I just… Wish you would've told us."

Sighing, I rolled onto my left side to face him completely. "I know. I'm sorry."

We stared each other down for a few seconds and I snuggled into the pillow to sleep finally. With closed eyes, I said just as casually as I had earlier that day, "And you owe me, Elric. It's past midnight and I didn't see _any_ ass today." Ed became flustered at this before smacking me on the head, only causing me to laugh in return. I would never admit it, but I was only partly joking…

Looking back to Ed, I saw him smiling slightly. I blushed slightly as we continued looking at one another. "What?" I asked, ignoring the awkwardness.

"Nothing," He said before shaking his head as he finally looked away. I said nothing else as I moved my face back into my pillow. I began to fall asleep and when I noticed Ed was too, it felt pretty good having his company there.

. . .

The moon shone down on the Rockbell house quietly as everyone slept. Well, everyone but me. Groaning, I began to open my eyes to an empty bedroom, and slowly sat up. Ed must have left to his own room while I was asleep. Rubbing my forehead, pushing my bangs out of my face, I stood from the bed and grabbed my hairclip. As I left the room, I clipped my hair back up, not caring that it wasn't brushed.

Once I was in the hallway, I heard light footsteps. Looking to the side, I saw Ed coming up the stairs. His clothes were dirty, as was his face, and a small cloth was in his hand. "Where have you been?" I asked.

I waited for his answer, ignoring the fact he jumped and looked up in surprise. "Riley…," He mumbled before shaking his head, "It's not important."

Pouting, I crossed my arms as he reached the top step. "You do realize I could figure it out within about an hour, you know," I grumbled stubbornly.

Smirking, he nodded, "Yeah, I know. But don't worry about it until we leave." I sighed slightly as Ed walked past me and continued down the hall silently. His boots thudded lightly across the wood, low enough to not wake anyone. The conversation with his father came to my mind and I looked to the ground in thought. Would a man who hadn't seen his son in so long really be right about this?

"Ed."

The thuds on the floor stopped. Ed turned slightly to better look back at me. "Yeah?"

"What do you…," I trailed off, knowing how stupid that question would sound once I asked it. "Lately everything has been leading back to the military and its higher-ups. And now we're running from them all… But… Do you consider me one of them?"

When nothing was said, I glanced to Ed from the side of my eye in worry. He was surprised, but it was quickly wiped off of his face. Looking up at me, he shook his head dismissively, "Why would I? You've been helping us more than anyone."

He turned to continue walking, but I wasn't done just yet. "But what if I wasn't?" He stopped once more and at this point, I was glaring at the floor. "You say that like that's that. That simple… But it isn't. What if I wasn't following you and Al anymore, Ed? What if… What if I went back to the military? Then what would you think?… Would you hate me?" I asked, finally getting the courage to look back up at him.

The shock on his face told me nothing. Was he surprised I cared? Or was he disgusted I even thought of going back? Slowly, Ed looked to the ground, eyes still wide. I did the same, feeling tense. "So that's what Dad meant," He mumbled under his breath. I moved to look up at him and ask what he meant. But before I could, hands slammed down on my shoulders, gripping them tightly, and Ed was in front of me. With a hard look in his eyes, he said, "That doesn't matter. I couldn't think of you as a military rat even if I _wanted_ to. I… Al and I both trust you. If we didn't, I wouldn't have carried you all the way here. I never wanted you gone, Riley. Don't you dare every worry about something like that again. Just worry about what's going on _now_."

I said nothing. Didn't he realize I _was_? I was completely worried about _now_. That was all that was going on in my mind. My thoughts had gone from what I could do to piss Ed off that day - to if I'd even get to see him live through to tomorrow. They had completely changed and that's what I was worried about. Frowning, I didn't say the lighthearted things that came to mind to change the situation("_Huh… You really aren't that short, are you?"_). I could only mutter under my breath, "…I'm scared."

"…" Ed's eyes softened slightly as he squeezed my shoulders in reassurance. "I am too, Riley…" We both continued standing there, both of us meaning something entirely different. Hearing a door begin to open, Ed quickly stepped away. Blushing, we both hurried to our own rooms to sleep, and forget about what happened.

Even though I knew I wouldn't.

* * *

In other news, I'm trying to convince my mom to let me get a ferret. I've got my aunt on my side and we're teaming up against her. Wish me luck!

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	41. Eenenveertig! That's 41!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**-sAkUrA-fAn-94:** Thank you! Hehe, yay, I'm your first! (That sounds _very_ wrong.) And thanks, I'm still working on the ferret!

**Dragon of Twilight:** I haven't really thought about names, yet. It depends, really. I'd be getting him from the Ferret Business of Georgia so he could be already acquainted with his name.  
The tension's definitely building! Between loving Ed and feeling the situation getting worse, it's taking quite a toll on Riley.

**Mizunou:** Haha, they were SO close! Dagnabbit.

**Leenaluvsanime4eva:** Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Riley at least was made for Ed. xP

**YaddaGirl:** Cute? Yay~ Hah, you're welcome I guess! Thanks. I'm still trying. xD

**BladedancerOfIce:** It definitely would've been time! But not just yet, teehee. And thanks! Rufus? Ahh, that's cute.

**Little firework:** Thanks! xD

**yumiXjaganshi: **I think it's probably fluff for the both of them! Lawlz, I should, shouldn't I? But only if he/she's white.

**Katsekala: **She totally is. 8D Fluff FTW!  
Thank you!

**Mercedes Wolfcry:** Hehe, the _booming__…_ Yay, I made someone stay up for my story~!

**Lana the Rebellious Type:** It's fine, at least it showed up this time. And it was totally Russian! Ivan would be proud, yeah? (Cheesy Grin Here.) She finally did, but Ed's far too stubborn. For now. _Kolkolkolkol__…_

**AirMage99:** He is, isn't he? 8D

**Lunarfox's Silverdusk:** Lawlz! Oh, she plans on it. ;D That's fine, I understand. It's been busy here too.

**Timexgone23:** I'm glad to hear that! I've been meaning to edit the first few chapters to bring them up to date but things have gotten hectic around here.  
As far as scripts go, I don't use a "pre-written script" actually. I watch the episodes on animefreak.(tv) and write as I go. A script's probably more convenient but I can make more observations with the episodes than a script, you know? xD  
And I _love_ the new word by the way. I think I'll start using it.

**Mikkiz:** Thank you!  
And yeah, I know_… _I hate it myself but like I said in chapter seven (Wow I remembered that far back?), it won't always be about humor. The events happening have taken a serious, darker tone and because of that, Riley herself is reacting to things more seriously. But humor will return!

**AkaMizu-chan:** Thank you! I love it when people read my stories in such a short amount of time. XD And I'm glad you liked Riley.

**ToshiroHitsugayagirlfriend:** Hehe, yay! And thanks, I'm glad you like it.

**Fma foreva:** Yay! And thanks, I'm still working on getting a ferret, haha.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

Wow… Without a doubt, chapter forty received the most reviews I've ever gotten for a chapter! I's so happy.

Reason this chapter took so long to come out: (I really have a reason, this time!)  
I took my laptop in to Geek Squad for the Blue Screen three weeks ago since we just renewed the warranty on it. They were running Diagnostics, but it kept shutting off for them too(I personally was happy to hear the laptop wasn't just acting up for _me_), so they sent it out early. We got it back a week ago, but the recovery installation wasn't working. So we took it back up there and just got it back yesterday. Unfortunately, I don't have Microsoft Word anymore.

And I forgot how troublesome OpenOffice could be. (RAGE Face Here.) I've had to write this entire Author's Note twice already. Technically, I've replied to you guys twice. Feel loved.

But ah well. I don't own FullMetal Alchemist because if I did, I'd have a Mac.  
I own Riley. Her and other creative content not in official FullMetal Alchemist franchise belongs to me. Only that stuff. Which is why I have (or had) an overheating PC instead.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-One:  
**_Disguises_

Why was it that _I_ had to be stuck in a kitchen with Winry and Sheska? Hannah had gone off on a walk earlier, saying she needed some things from town. Ed went off on his own _again_, claiming he needed "time to think about things". Even Al was gone. So it was just Pinako, the girls and me. And after dealing with them for thirty minutes, I wanted to bash my head in.

"You're putting in too much flour!" Winry complained to Sheska with a nervous frown. Sheska gave a small, 'huh' in return, causing Winry to smile. She began motioning to her own pie as she said, "Cooking is a science, just like auto-mail and machinery!"

Glancing up to her lazily as I sat at the end of the table, my chin on my palm, I grumbled out, "And driving a tractor." Stiffening up, she glared down at me but I only shrugged looking away. "Well it's true," I mouthed out as I looked around the kitchen. I had never really had a normal place so it was kind of new to me. Before my parents passed, we had lived in the dojo. And with Marcoh… Well, what do you expect a guy who ran from the military _and_ taught a little girl alchemy's kitchen to look like? Not like a normal one, that was for sure.

But that didn't matter - Winry and Sheska were cooking. What mattered was surviving the explosion I kept imagining would be happen. The two then began to argue. Winry insisted that cooking was a science while Sheska believed it was an art. They had actually reached the point of yelling at each other from across the table. Eyes closing, I let my head slip off my palm. My forehead bashed onto the table in front of me and I covered my arms over the back of my head as I continued to hit my forehead on the table top.

Hannah and the Elrics were going to _pay_ for this.

The ringing of the phone brought us all out of our current situations. Winry and Sheska almost jumped out of their skins, and I only rolled my eyes. "A-Answer it!" Winry shouted nervously, looking over at Sheska.

"B-But I'm only a guest," Sheska laughed out nervously.

Winry laughed with her. "Nonsense! We all see you as family!" She shouted, patting the other girl on the shoulder.

Before anyone could say anything else, "GET THE DAMN PHONE," came from the backroom and we all shuddered slightly. Pinako was definitely scary when she wanted to be. So, Winry slowly inched to it and held the receiver to her ear.

With Other People  
(How clever does _that_ sound?)

"Looks like your little attack _could_ be reversed, Blackburn… You told us it was impossible to fix."

The dark haired man's brows furrowed closer to his narrowed, shaking eyes. With fists clenched under the sleeves of his long coat, he stood behind the _thing_ by the window. That was all he could call a homunculus. An artificial human. Easing his shoulders, he tried to control his own temper. "I was sure it was, Envy," He replied, "I broke her bones. Her tissue was almost disintegrated. Hohenheim must be a v-"

In a short second, the homunculus sent a vase nearby flying at Blackburn's head. He quickly deflected it and sighed, knowing what was coming as the immature Envy marched toward him. "Don't compliment that bastard!"

Blackburn scowled down at him. "Stop being such a child. I was merely observing the fact he could so easily fix that girl. Don't whine about facts." The two glared at each other for a while, having only tolerated each other because of Dante. Quickly, Blackburn turned toward the exit, his coat flying around him. "Besides, I'm not done with Mauler… Leave her to me," He stated, heading toward the door.

"Well obviously you aren't capable of killing her or you would have already. Just leave her." The man stopped. Envy smirked slightly, "Why don't you sit back and watch how it's done?"

Pausing, Blackburn looked over his shoulder. "Planning something, Envy?" Envy said nothing before looking outside the window. His reflection glared back at him silently.

. . .

"So… You wanted to talk?"

Resembool welcomed bright light from the sun as Ed walked down the street casually. The town was the same as always. He doubted it would ever change. Hands in his pockets, he continued looking everywhere. Everywhere but at the girl next to him.

Hannah nodded at his question. She too looked around the town. With her hands clasped together behind her back, she enjoyed the peace while it lasted. "I did," She said simply, "About you and Riley."

Ed was taken by surprise at this as he finally looked over at her in confusion. "What about me and Riley?" He asked, full of hesitation. Did he really want to know the answer to that?

"I saw you two last night, you know," Hannah commented casually. Ed's eyes widened; he stopped walking altogether as he tried not to blush at the memory. When she noticed he was no longer by her side, Hannah stopped as well and turned to face him. "…Do you have feelings for Riley, Edward?" She questioned curiously. Though she looked laid back and her tone was that of mere curiosity, Ed could tell she wasn't going to let him pass on answering her.

His mind was racing through several different thought processes. But Hannah remained patient. "W-What… Why would you think that?"

With expression still blank, she glanced away as she explained. "I see a lot of things going on between you two, Edward. You think no one notices, but Al and I both do. Even Winry knows something's going on." She finally looked back at Ed and gave him a small smile. "Just think about it, okay?"

Ed was silent as he watched the brunette turn and keep walking. Hannah was right. He didn't want to admit it, but she was. If it weren't for the problems he was having with the military and the homunculi, he was positive Riley would've taken over his mind. He was always so wrapped up in worry about her.

And all the "nice ass" comments she would make weren't helping. At all.

With Riley.

"Shou… Tucker?" I repeated slowly, looking toward the ceiling as I tapped my chin lightly.

Winry let out a long sigh, giving me a hard, irritated look. "Yes, for the last time. Shou Tucker. Do you recognize the name or not?" She had gotten off the phone with said man, who had asked for Alphonse. How he knew where we were, and how to contact us, had me worried enough. Not to mention the fact the name sounded familiar.

After she asked me, she and Sheska leaned over the table toward me in anticipation, watching as the wheels turned in my head. Or well, tried to turn. "I vaguely remember something about that guy… I think I wrote an article about him actually. He was pretty well-known in the military… Did something brilliant," I murmured out, racking my brain for more information.

Slouching in to failure, Winry scowled. "And you call yourself a writer," She grumbled out at me.

I pouted as I looked away. "Well it's not like I remember every name in the military," I mentioned. Even though I didn't remember everything, I knew I needed to. What did he want? "Oh!" I exclaimed, remembering something.

"What?" Winry and Sheska asked in unison, leaning forward even more as though it would make me talk sooner. Standing from my chair, I made my way upstairs to the room the girls were staying in. Hannah's bag rested against a wall, under a window. The sun shone in gently through the curtains, casting a nice pinkish glow in the dark room.

I flipped the light on and killed the romantic glow.

Kneeling down in front of Hannah's bag, I opened it and began rummaging through all her things. Finally finding it, I took out a folder and began reading through all the articles. They were all my articles, which we had collected over the past few years. Hannah wanted them for bragging rights – she had a friend who wrote for the military. I wanted them precisely for moments like this – when my memory was letting me down (Not that it happened often…)

A few seconds passed and I heard Winry and Sheska walk into the room, just as I found what I was hoping to see. "There it is! Shou Tucker, The Life-Sewing Alchemist… Daughter… Nina… Bio…," I muttered under my breath, eyes scanning the words of the article.

Nina.

That sounded familiar.

_"These people.. They're.. Homunculi!" Al said._

_Ed's eyes shook as he repeated Al, surprised, under his breath. A half-man, half-..Creature.. Walked up toward us as he and Ed talked. It was mainly over memory implants. I wasn't really listening. I was looking around, trying to piece everything together. "It still won't be the real Nina!" Ed shouted._

"Nina… Oh my God!" I shouted, jumping up to my feet. In just a few seconds, I had remembered exactly who Tucker was. I remembered his crimes. I remembered him being at Lab Five. And I remembered he was supposed to have been executed.

Winry stepped forward in concern. "W-Well?" She asked nervously.

Quickly, I spun around to see her. She and Sheska both looked worried about what my discovery was. "I still can't remember! It's unbelievable!" I exclaimed, laughing nervously as I brushed past them and headed back downstairs. Winry's expression went deadpan as she grunted in annoyance.

. . .

"Shou?"

Winry stood in front of Al at the table in the dining room. With Sheska beside her, she held up a cake toward the boy. Pinako sat across from him. I stood behind the doorway, knowing his answer would've been different if I were there to hear it. Winry nodded at Al's question. "Yep," She started, "Some guy with a really weird voice. He said his name was Shou." Looking away, Al mumbled off into his own thoughts. "Anyway, he said he wanted to meet with you and that it was really important. He said it didn't matter when you got in. You could call him anytime… Alphonse? He was crying while he talked to me," She mumbled out, head turning downward.

"Shou…," Al trailed off, still thinking it over. A few seconds passed before he jumped up, gasping slightly. I narrowed my eyes; so he recognized the man.

Holding her pipe, Pinako looked over at him. "Is it someone you know?" She asked him.

Al was quick to respond. "Uh, no!" He looked down to the pie, pointing to it nervously. "This looks really good! Ed'll be so happy!" He exclaimed. The dog outside began barking and Al looked up in acknowledgment. "Brother's back!"

"Hey!" Winry protested as Al grabbed the pie and left the room. I sighed when he passed me and ran to the door. I didn't know whether Al was planning on seeing him or not, but I had to talk to him about it either way. What did Shou want with us? Or, Al specifically?

I left the house shortly after Al and saw both Ed and Hannah waking toward the stairs. "Brother," Al greeted happily. Ed looked up upon hearing Al, and Hannah smiled slightly.

"Where have you two been all day?" I asked blankly, looking down at them in suspicious curiosity. A casual trip to the store couldn't have taken Hannah _that_ long.

Hannah paused, glancing to Ed. "I got lost and ran into Ed. We both headed home after that."

When I looked to Ed for his response, he shook his head. "I was just leaving false tracks to make everyone think we were headed north, that's all," Ed explained, giving Al and me a small grin. "Don't worry about it. So is everything cool here?"

From behind us, I heard Pinako's voice. "Al, did you tell him about the strange call you got?"

Al paused, staring down at Pinako. He raised his hands and as he started to ramble('Oh, you mean _that_ call?'), I interrupted. "It was just a wrong number. Nothing to worry about," I said, glancing up to Al as I kept myself from adding, 'Yet'. He looked down at me and sighed, knowing I expected answers.

Almost instantly afterward, Ed slouched over. Nose twitched, he gained a huge grin as he began stumbling past us. We all shifted out of his way as he drooled out, "I'm starving!~" My expression went deadpan as I watched Ed go further into the house. Hannah laughed nervously, slipping past us as well and going upstairs.

From there, it was just Al and me. He looked down at me and I could tell he was trying to figure out how to explain this one. Sighing, I shook my head, a scowl forming on my face. "Don't do anything stupid. You're supposed to be the rational one," I said simply before going inside myself.

. . .

"Ed! Al! Are you planning on sleeping _all_-…" I looked over when I heard the door open, to see Winry standing there in surprise. Ed sat on the edge of his bed with a bucket of water in front of him; and I was at the head of the bed, my head hanging off one side as my feet dangled off the other. With my camera in hand and film sticking out of my mouth, I was trying to load the camera without actually having to sit up. My bangs fell out of my face and as I felt the blood rush to my forehead, Winry's shoulders drooped in embarrassment. "S-Sorry."

Looking over at her as he held the towel that draped around his neck, Ed shrugged slightly. "That's okay." He clapped his hands and placed his hair into the bowl of water. Slowly, his hair began turning a dark green. Winry clapped in awe and he smirked, "Don't be so surprised. A trick like that is pretty basic alchemy."

Sniggering slightly, I mumbled past the film in my mouth about picking a funny hair color. Ed glared at me from over his shoulder – even though he didn't understand what I was saying, he knew I was making fun of him. Winry paid no mind to this as she walked further into the room. Her smile faded as she came to a slow stop when something caught her eye. "…" Slowly turning, she looked up to see a large statue towering over her.

Winry let out a loud scream and jumped onto the bed, hiding behind Ed. He began to snicker but I didn't bother hiding my laughs at her expense. "W-What is that thing?" She asked.

A large black statue sat beside the wall, formed to look at a flexing man. I swore up and down it looked like Armstrong, but maybe I was just paranoid. It began shifting back and forth and from the inside, came Al's exclaims. "It's just me, Winry!"

"Al…?"

Ed composed himself as he looked over to his brother. "I used a few materials I found to make Al a disguise. There are no seams either. No one will know he's in there unless they break it open," He explained proudly.

Finally putting the film in the camera, I snorted. "Because statues of delusional, sparkling men aren't suspicious at all," I commented simply.

Glaring over at me once more, he raised his fist to me. "For the last time, it's not Armstrong damn it!" He exclaimed. The two of us began picking at one another as we usually did("_Just admit your subconscious mind created an Armstrong to follow us around_!" "_Since when did you become a therapist_?" "_It doesn't take a therapist to read into your puny little mind_!" "_Is this how you treat somebody that lugged your ass here_?" "_What do you mean, lugged_?"). We failed to notice Winry looking down sadly.

"So… You're leaving again?" She finally spoke up.

We both quieted down and looked over at her. For a moment, I kind of felt bad for her. I couldn't fight Ed about staying with him and Al and then _not_ understand what Winry went through. It had to have been hard on her. "I'm sorry, Winry. There's something I have to do," Ed said simply, looking away from us all as he sat back at the edge of the bed.

"Wait, I know! You're going off to find some way to get Al's body back, right? Why don't you just do your research here?" She asked, smiling wide.

Before anything was said, Sheska walked in. With a serious expression, she made eye contact with Ed. "You're going to avenge Maes' murder… Aren't you?" She asked. I paused, looking over at him in wonder.

Ed was quiet at first as he looked back ahead. "If I give my whole life to revenge, now… Everything Scar said… This life would be meaningless," He explained. I leaned back in curiosity – what did Scar say to him before Al and I met up with the Ishbalin? The thought of Scar came to my mind and my eyes drifted downward in memory.

"Then?" Sheska asked, also curious.

"Still – there _is_ something that I have to take care of," Ed responded. Silence filled the room for several seconds, before Winry grabbed the ends of Ed's hair. She yanked it down and he let out a yell of pain. "What do you want?" He shouted, trying to look at her from over his shoulder.

Without looking up, she mumbled out, "I'll braid your hair for you…"

Glancing over at them, my brow twitched slightly. I jumped up to my feet and threw the camera's strap around my neck. "I'm going to go make sure I'm packed," I commented casually as I stepped off the edge of the bed. I felt my hair clip bob up and down as I landed on the ground. I walked around Sheska and left the room, headed toward my own.

. . .

Tension rose silently, anger darting between two booths. Ed's brow twitched slightly but he ignored it nonetheless. I sat across from him, arms crossed as my glare dug holes into his head. At least, that's what I imagined. Horrible, horrible pain to the Elric. Hannah sat beside me, making sure I didn't lunge. Even so, she herself was slightly irritated – and for good reason, too. Ed wasn't the only one in disguise…

_Making sure my bag was packed with my things and I was ready to go, I placed the camera inside it. I didn't want to have it out unless I needed it. The door opened and I heard faint footsteps from behind me. Just as I turned to see who was there, I saw a flash of green. Spotting arms reach out toward me, I quickly leaned backward to avoid the hands."What the hell?" I exclaimed, finally seeing Ed standing there._

_As I raised my hands to block myself from him, he sighed. "Riley, we have to change your hair color_…_," He explained._

"_Hell no," Was my instant response. He frowned, expecting me to reply in such a way, no doubt. Sending me a short, firm gaze, he quickly reached up once more to grab hold of my hair. But I wouldn't have it. Jerking back, I pushed him away only to have him push just as harder._

"_R-Riley, stop fighting with me! You can't go around looking the same right now! We're wanted!" He shouted as he fought with me._

_I grunted, bending over to try and take him down. "_No one_ is touching this hair, pipsqueak!" I growled out, trying to tackle him to the ground so I'd have an opening to the door. I heard said door open, just as I felt Ed's hands slip under my waist and leg. Before I could look over to see who came in (to see an innuendo-filled sight), Ed had flipped me over. I let out a yell of surprise as I felt myself lift into the air, and start falling backward. Landing on the bed, I bounced a bit from impact. Ed grabbed my wrists before I could move to leave. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as I registered what he had done. I looked up quickly and saw him blushing even worse than I was. "The hell was that?" I asked in shock._

"_It had to be done, Riley," He grumbled, trying not to look me in the eye._

_Oh yeah – we were actually fighting about something, weren't we? Remembering what had happened, I shook my head. "No. You're not dying my hair, damn it." I could hear Hannah sigh in the background and saw her walk over. My eyes widened when I saw that her hair color had gone from a light brown, to an almost pitch black. "You_… _You actually _did_ it?" I asked, mocking betrayal._

_She nodded in reply. "Yes, and I also had to give up my purse_…_ So just do it before I get angry," She said, her bottom lip shaking slightly._

_My jaw dropped. The thought of Hannah giving up a purse was, well, astonishing. I never thought she would've! I tuned back into reality and saw Hannah climbing on top of me as Ed quickly scrambled off in embarrassment. If the situation weren't about something as important as my hair, I would've started throwing out every sarcastic comment I could. Hannah grabbed my wrists and crossed them over one another on my stomach, holding them down with all her might. But that didn't stop me from struggling to get free. She nodded to Ed and I quickly turned my head as far up as I could._

_The bed pressed against the top of my head and I could see an upside down Ed leaning over a bucket of water at the edge of the bed. He looked up to grab my hair and I locked eyes with him. My expression quickly turned to a pout as I glared over at the boy. He blushed deeper, looking back down at his task at hand. Grabbing my hair, he pulled it out from under me and, as I still fought against them, he clapped his hands_…

For that very reason, I was now a _blonde_. "I hate you," I spat out under my breath. I no longer had my sweatshirt jacket and jeans either – instead I was stuck in bulky gray cargo pants and a black sleeveless top. They were Winry's. I wasn't sure which was worse – that I was wearing her clothes or that I was forced to have her hair color. Either way, I was really wishing I had my jacket. It's not like she was the most modest of dressers. Hannah also wore some of Winry's clothes; a white blouse and jeans. At least she was warm.

Ed crossed his own arms as he shook his head. "No you don't," He retorted.

"I really do," I replied instantly.

Sighing, Hannah looked over at me dully. "Hey, I have to carry around Pinako's backpack!"

I glared over at her, slamming my hand down onto the booth in between us. Leaning over to get closer to her, I spat out, "You don't look like Winry."

"…That's true."

"Ugh!"

* * *

Heh, don't worry – Riley won't look like that for long! She wouldn't allow it. I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but the next one will make up for it. Promise.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	42. Nelikümmend Kaks! That's 42!

Okaaay. I really wish I updated this yesterday because yesterday was the hundredth anniversary of the day Ed and Al burned their house down! (Insert Nerd Grin Here.) But oh well.

This chapter is still kind of short, so I apologize for the lie in the last chapter where I promise this would be longer. It isn't. But it's something, right? 8D Anywho, this month has been busy, and it's only four days in. What with Halloween coming up, my favorite day of the year, my mom and I have been planning a lot of big stuff.

So there's my lame excuse. xD

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**A-Prayer-4-da-Damned:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it. And of course I'm continuing – I plan to until the end.

**XjipushiHotaruX:** IKR? Dx The world is cruel to make her look like Winry. But I guess it's the price you pay for love(whut.)

**Lana:** PASTAAAAAAA! But yes, I love Hetalia. My absolute favorite character of all anime has become Germany. I'm obsessed with him. But I also love America and Russia. xD My ex actually planned this get together this weekend for an entire Hetalia special. It's gonna be G-N-A-R-L-Y.  
Well then maybe I should start making them all shorter, yeah? (Shot)

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** If Riley has anything to do with it, she most certainly will.

**CloudEnvyKunoichi:** Laptop problems suck, don't they? Maybe it was overheating. That was the problem with mine. The Blue Screen of Death! (Wriggles fingers in scary fashion.) Haha, I know what you mean. Though I was a natural blond when I was a kid so I guess I can't say much. XD

**amber:** I love it when people tell me they finished it in one night. It's so awesome. XD But thank you! I'm glad you like the story, and Riley!

**Katsekala:** Aren't they GNARLY? 8D I love them, too.

**Mizunou:** Oh wow. That sucks. Dx A friend of mine dropped hers about a week before mine started having problems. They had to replace the entire laptop. =/

**SummoningShadows18:** The horrible thing about technology is that it has so much power over your sanity. XD Thank you! I tried to make it longer, but couldn't. And thank you for that kind comment, I'm glad Riley fits in with the FMA atmosphere enough. (And I think that would've been an Armstrong moment if you added sparkles. So you're good. XD)

**BladedancerOfIce:** Haha, yeah, I used to have really blond hair so I know all too well about looking like Winry also.

**Leenaluvsanime4eva:** Lawlz xD It's definitely a new twist on Riley's image.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: **Like, crazy mad. Murderous mad. No one messes with Riley's hair. XD

**Headstrong Emo Girl:** I'm glad you like my story! But I've read your stories and they aren't bad. Everyone on here has to keep writing and stay open-minded to improvements. (Insert Cheesy Grin Here.)

**ausumist:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**ToshiroHitsugayagirlfriend:** Haha, thanks! I enjoyed it a bit myself. XD

**fma 4eva:** I think a lot of people would! One Winry is enough, if you ask me.

**Oh-You-Know-:** It's funny because you reviewed my story _as_ I was writing the next chapter. XD But thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you like it, and don't worry – Riley would never keep the Winry look. _Never_.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

Ohmai, are these Lovely Daaaarling moments getting longer? 8D I love you guys.

Oh bad (yet totally irrelevant) news, my laptop shut itself off today! I'm hoping it's not a sign that it will revert back to its old problems. I've had enough of Geek Squad to last me a couple years.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. If I did, I'D USE THE MONEY TO MAKE THE BEST HAUNTED HOUSE IN THE WORLD.  
But I don't have a Haunted House, let alone THE BEST HAUNTED HOUSE IN THE WORLD. Or money. So I don't own FMA.  
What do I have instead? Riley. Yeah. Real nice…

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Two:  
**_Spur of the Moment Decisions_

"I…I need to tell you something," Ed said, looking down at the ground. He refused to actually face me.

Raising a brow, I shrugged, "What is it?"

Sighing, he shook his head and finally looked up. "I really like you," He spat out. My eyes widened in surprise. I looked over my shoulder to make sure he was talking to _me_. No one else was there. So it had to be me.

"Ed… I, um… I like you too," I admitted finally, rubbing the back of my neck. He grinned and I looked away sheepishly. My eyes landed on the glass window beside me and I stopped when I saw my horrible reflection – Winry was staring right back at me.

Yelping, I felt myself jerk awake and I sat up quickly, yanking away from Hannah's shoulder. My arms were crossed, just as they were when I fell asleep. I looked around quickly, and in horror, as I tried registering what happened. _The hell was that?_ Those horrid clothes were getting to me! Those clothes and my new hair color! Damn it all…

I looked out the window and saw that the sun was about to start setting. Some people had fallen asleep as well, and others were talking quietly amongst themselves. Ed wasn't in the booth anymore. I held back a sigh of relief. Standing up, I glanced down to the sleeping Hannah before walking toward the door at the end of the compartment. Opening it, I paused when I saw Ed standing there. I shut the door behind me and walked over to his side.

Hearing me, he glanced down at me and I scowled. He smirked. Since he was in 'disguise', he wanted to be taller. This compensation of his made _me_ the "short one". Leaning on the railing, I scowled out at the scenery racing by us. "Not only do I look like Winry, but Edward Elric is looking down at me," I grumbled out.

"Stop worrying about it. It's not like we had a choice," Was his casual response. Even so, I knew he was laughing on the inside. That bastard.

I looked away from him. "Yeah right. You just wanted an excuse to touch my ass."

Ed stumbled over and I smirked. _Revenge_. "W-What?" He shouted in shock, looking over at me with wide eyes and red cheeks.

Feigning an innocent look, I nodded as I closed my eyes and sighed. "Really, all you had to do was ask. There was no need to use dying my hair as a decoy. It would have been enjoyable if I knew my hair wasn't going to be ruined."

Ed was quiet for a bit longer as he looked down at me. Examining my face. Trying to see what I was planning. Finally, he shook his head. "I didn't touch your… I didn't touch that!" I burst out laughing when I realized he couldn't say it. His blush deepened, "S-Shut up, Riley. You're just exaggerating."

My laughs died down as I shook my head. "You're too easy to read!" I was about to continue my torment, but the train started slowing down. We both turned away from each other in curiosity. We shared a quick glance, the humor gone from the air. Something was up – we weren't supposed to be stopping for a while. The train came to a complete stop and I leaned over the railing to look around. Finally, at the head of the train, I saw several officers standing together. Two of the military personnel were climbing onto the train, one of the two shouting orders. "The military's searching the train," I commented blankly.

I looked back up to Ed to see his reaction. The collar of his brown trench coat and the sunglasses hid most of his face, but I knew he was coming up with back up plans. Not too long afterward, I could hear the same officer walking through the compartment we were near. "Search carefully! We have to assume they're in some sort of disguise. There's a tall one and a dwarf, accompanied by two females. The dwarf could easily be overlooked so take extra precautions!"

A smirk found its way to my face, despite the seriousness of the situation. Also ignoring what could happen, Ed's fist tightened as he growled through a set jaw. I saw the officers at the door and quickly looked away. For all we knew, they had a good idea of our faces. I could hear them stop behind us. "That can't be them," The quieter one said, "The guy we're looking for is the size of an ant."

Ed twitched and his growl became louder. His fist began shaking and my eyes widened in anger – toward him. Quickly wrapping an arm around where I _hoped_ to be his waist, I chuckled out, "This trip has been great, hasn't it?" Ed's gaze jerked down toward me, his body stiff. Red rose to his cheeks as he shot me a 'what the hell are you doing?' stare. I glared up at him as I whispered out, "Calm down, you idiot."

We began to argue in whispers; I was scolding him for getting so angry and potentially ruining our disguises. Ed was complaining about being called short even when he's taller than me, which set me off into a whole other subject about _not_ being taller than me and how he should just wait and see what I was going to do to him after those boots came off and he was back to his _puny_ size again. Which only got him angrier, of course.

Neither of us really noticed the two men behind us, until we heard a man shout, "Commander! We've found some weird bronze statue in the back."

Falling quiet and still, Ed and I continued staring at each other as we intently listened to the three men. "How big is it?" The quieter one asked.

"I think it looks bigger than a suit of armor," The new man said, "But I don't know."

The commander, who had already annoyed me, sighed. "Let's crack it open, just in case."

They ran off down the compartments and I pulled away from Ed, who was staring in their direction. "I'm going to go get Hannah," I said calmly, knowing this would be our leave. Ed nodded and jumped off the gauge, taking off toward the storage unit where Al was. I, on the other hand, pulled open the compartment door and ran inside. Hannah, who sat in the middle booth, jumped up after seeing me. I ran over to her and waited for her to grab her bag. "They're going to crack open Al, we need to go," I explained simply before taking her arm and dragging her away.

By the time we jumped off the gauge and reached the compartment, Ed was growling as the commander shouted, "You're the dwarf!"

"Al, let's go!" Ed shouted, throwing his jacket off and into the air. Al destroyed the statue and the soldiers let out more cries of surprise. The commander shouted for them all, and we took off.

Reaching the brothers' side, I scowled as I ran with them. "I knew a statue of Armstrong was obvious!" I shouted out into the air. I had to make sure I stated that before I forgot. I _had_ to.

Ed's brow twitched. "Now's not the time for that, Riley!" He shouted. I was about to reply but he only looked to Al, "Al, run ahead!"

The boy looked down to his brother, now aware conversation was turned toward him. "Brother… I bet with the stone's powers, we co-"

"Just run!" Ed interrupted, irritated that Al insisted on using the stone. Al paused, but did so. I looked over my shoulder to Hannah, who silently nodded and sped up to get in line with Al. "You too, Riley!" I looked over in surprise, ready to yell at him, but saw the look in his eye. I paused and, knowing he wanted to get this over with, I sighed and ran forward after the others.

. . .

The room was quiet and calm, something I was thankful for at the moment. Just as I had thought, Ed handled the situation quickly – none of us were in the mood to get into a big fight with them. Hannah and Al sat on the bed together as I knelt in front of them, rummaging through Hannah's bag for my clothes. Ed stood by the window silently. "Thanks, Brother," Al finally broke the silence. "But I could've-"

"Al. You can't use alchemy anymore," Ed stated matter-of-factly. Almost… Bitterly.

The younger Elric was quick to respond. "But why not? I remember the gate now, Brother! And I'm the Philosopher's Stone, so I've been thinking I could probably do it without a circle-" Ed snapped.

"Just don't, Al!" He shouted angrily. He had spun around, glaring down at his brother. The two fell silent. Regretting his actions, Ed's shoulders eased, as well as his expression. Smiling slightly, he softly explained the situation. "If you use the stone's power, we don't know what will happen to you. We'll take our time, okay? We'll study more… And do it right."

Silence fell among us all.

I was growing tired of the tension – between the mood swings I had gone through, and the drama between them, I was sick of it. So, lazily glancing to either of them, I smirked down at the bag. "Here there are," I said casually as I pulled out my clothes. "Thought I'd never find them…," I grumbled to myself as I stood and kicked off my shoes. My hands guided themselves to the belt of the pants I had on and I began to undo it.

"W-What are you doing?"

My lazy expression turned slightly as I glanced over to the red faced Elric. "What? I want my own clothes again."

"So change in the bathroom like a decent person!" Ed exclaimed, leaning back so far I thought his back would mold into the window he stood in front of. Like he was trying to stay away from cooties or something.

I rose a brow and scowled. Turning to face him completely, I pointed to my stomach which was bare due to Winry's shirt. "Like you haven't seen my skin already! After making me wear _this_ get-up, you're worried about seeing my skin? Look at this! Look!" I shouted, repeatedly jabbing my finger at my stomach as I stepped forward for a more dramatic statement.

His blush worsened as his eyes, of course, were directed to where I was pointing. "I see it, Riley, you don't have to point it out!"

"So you've been eying me?" I shouted in response, feigning a look of surprise and offense. Quickly looking away as I hid my mouth behind my hand, I closed my eyes sadly. "You pervert."

"Me?" Ed shouted loudly and incredulously. "You're the one that's been staring at my ass!" Silence fell once more and I gained a wide smirk at how painfully hilarious that had sounded.

Noticing my smirk, his expression immediately turned to a scowl. Shaking his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he sulked to the door. "Brother?" Al asked curiously. We all watched his back as he opened the door.

"There's something I need if we're going to stop the homunculi," He grumbled out, still embarrassed. Before Al could offer to go with him, he looked at us all. "You guys just stay here and rest. It won't take long."

He left and I sighed as the door shut back in place. "He's going to get himself killed like this one day," I grumbled to myself. Hannah began to lay down as I went to the bathroom to shower.

. . .

Yawning, I stepped out of the shower leisurely. Water dripped from the shower head in a painstakingly slow manner as I grabbed a towel. I could hear a faint noise outside the door as I wrapped the towel around myself, but thought nothing of it. It was probably just Al or Hannah. Walking over to the sink, I grinned as I saw my familiar dark brown hair. "Thank you," I whispered toward the ceiling before brushing out the tangles.

Just as I slipped on my underwear, I heard a loud thud, followed by rushed mutters. "What the hell?" I wondered aloud as I walked over to the door and opened it.

It was _definitely_ not Al or Hannah. Wrath leaned over Ed on the bed, hand wrapped around the blond's neck as the two struggled against eachother's strength. Lust stood near the door, but was frozen to her spot. A locket was entwined with her extended nails. Poor Hannah was sitting at the head of the bed, looking as though the fight woke her harshly from her sleep.

Without thinking much about it, I ran forward and grabbed the back of Wrath's collar. I yanked him backwards and threw him toward Lust. He caught his fall, rolling forward as Ed jumped up from the bed. He clapped and slammed his hands on the floor, bringing up a rock wall in between us. Ed glanced over to me so I finally questioned, "Where's Al?"

"Al went to meet Tucker," He replied. Our conversation was interrupted when Lust slashed the wall into pieces. We both turned back to them, stepping back slightly. Glancing behind him, Ed spun around and grabbed my arm. He ran to the window, dragging me with him. My eyes widened when I realized what he was doing. Wrapping an arm tight around my waist, he leaped through the window. I yelped, grabbing onto his jacket sleeve as we fell toward the alley's ground.

We landed side by side and I winced as I felt the stinging impact on my bare feet. "Idiot, give me warning next time!" I complained, glaring at Ed.

Before he could snap back at me, Lust jumped down in front of us. We braced ourselves for a fight as Wrath jumped down behind us. "Kill them now, Lust!" He shouted angrily.

Ed didn't bother looking back to Wrath as he glared at the woman before us. "I guess you want to become a human too, don't you?" He growled out.

At first, Lust said nothing. Looking Ed in the eye, she finally spoke. "If there _is_ a Philosopher's Stone… Then Shou Tucker is teaching your brother to use it as we speak." She paused once more to glanced downwards, frowning. "Let's say you did decide to use it…"

"Stop, Lust! We can't talk to him!" Wrath protested.

But she continued. "Then… Would you…," Looking up with hope and desperation, she asked, "Then would you make me a human being?"

Ed was taken back in surprise. "Traitor!" Wrath shouted, running around us both to attack Lust.

Quick to act, Lust ran forward, extending her nail to throw Wrath backwards. Ed glared up at her. He wasn't buying into this, and for good reason. "What the hell are you trying here?" He exclaimed.

"I already told you," She replied calmly.

"Oh come on. If you really think I would turn you guys into humans, you're even crazier than I thought you were," He refused still. I sighed silently; maybe she was being honest. And I could definitely see the plus sides to him turning them into humans. What was so wrong with that, after all?

Lust was apparently on the same train of thought. "Why wouldn't you?" She whispered out lowly. Ed looked over at her, startled slightly. She looked over her shoulder at us. "If you transformed all of us homunculi into humans than we wouldn't be chasing you anymore. You'd have no more enemies, would you?"

Ed gritted his teeth together as her words ran through his head. Wrath took this opportunity to jump up, rushing toward Lust. "Traitor!" He repeated as he clapped his hands. Lust slapped him away and moved to pierce him once more, but he was ready. Holding up the locket, he glared at Lust as her nail pierced the locket. She gasped slightly, falling to her back. My eyes narrowed. I didn't like where this was going. "You just couldn't be patient, could you?" Wrath sneered out as he walked over to her and placed a foot on her chest, "Didn't Master say she would turn is into humans once we found the Philosopher's Stone?"

"I don't believe her…," She whispered out, weak from the locket, "I can't. I know she just wants the Philosopher's Stone to prolong her own life. For that reason… Countless wars have been fought. You know our master has no intention of ever making us all human…"

Wrath smirked in his own twisted way. "Well I never cared if she helps me or not. I've got my own strategy for becoming a human, Lust," He said as he reached up and grabbed one of her nails. He bent it backwards and as it cracked away from her, she let out a painful scream. Wrath attached it to his hand as he continued, "I guess it's like our master said. You really can't be trusted, can you?"

I'd had enough. Running forward, I growled out, "That's it!" Ed shouted my name in protest but I ignored it. Wrath looked up upon hearing me, but I was already in front of him. I threw my fist toward his face and he grabbed my arm. Quickly, I grabbed his own. He flinched as he felt his arm heating up, and let go out of instinct. Since he was off guard, I punched him. He flew backwards, just as Ed reached my side to stop me.

Obviously he was a little late for that. Ed reached forward and removed the locket from Lust. Almost immediately, she had Wrath pinned to the ground. Smirking in victory, she sent another nail into his forehead. "Let's go," She said, looking to us simply. They started walking out of the alley and as I began to follow them, I felt a sharp breeze slamming into my body. _W-What the_… I reached around myself to grab my arms, and felt bare skin.

Bare… Skin? Looking down, my eyes went wide.

I hadn't changed yet.

Letting out a loud, short scream, I quickly grabbed the towel as if it would leave me. In shock and worry, Lust and Ed quickly turned to see what was wrong. Lust's expression didn't change, but Ed's did. We both blushed heavily as he stumbled back. "Y-You – Wh – What were you thinking coming out here in just a – just a towel?"

I jerked my head up to glare at him, "You're the one that made me jump out a window, idiot! Now I'm freezing!" Shaking my head, I ran forward, shoving past the both of them as my hair hid my reddening face. "I have to change!" Ed continued to blush. Lust glanced down at him with a bit of amusement and he looked away to the other end of the road stubbornly.

Barging into the hotel room, I slammed the door behind me. Hannah looked over and smirked widely. I glared at her. "Don't say a word," I hissed out before grabbing my clothes and running into the bathroom.

From outside the door, I could hear Hannah fall of the bed from laughing so hard.

* * *

Chapter Translation Time!

Chapter Forty's Title is Russian.  
Chapter Forty-One's title is Dutch.  
And this chapter is Estonian!  
If I got any translation wrong, please let me know. I am by no means fluent in these languages and don't expect to be right every time.

Now, Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	43. 四十三! That's 43!

Ahhh, sorry it took me so long, guys. I was on an epic, far-away journey that forced me to discover my greatest strengths and fears, involving laser guns and Michigan.

…Too out there? Okay, I've just been really busy. Halloween kept me on my toes all of October and then we started Christmas shopping when November started. On top of all this, there's school (which makes me feel sick, just hearing the word), Thanksgiving (with family who was up here for the week from Florida), Anime Day, and every other anime event going on this month.

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween, whether you celebrated it or not! _And Happy Thanksgiving. x3_

Among other news, I've taken on the ever famous _100 Theme Challenge_. I've finished three challenges pretty quick, so hopefully I'll stay on this roll. Wish me luck!

Oh, and word of advice; don't use scotch tape to rid yourself of what you think is an oncoming uni-brow. It doesn't work… It just hurts. Duct tape on the other hand, kind of works… But you will most likely shout during some point, "**Oh my God, is that my skin?**" (Walks away, muttering about the pain now experienced when raising eyebrows.)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**YumiXjaganshi:** Haha, it's very Riley-esque. XD  
I think the majority of the people don't want to look like Winry! A disturbing thought, indeed. Ohh? And what _did_ you dress up as for Halloween?

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Oh, you know she will. XDD Hah, it sure took them a while to realize it. Riley's just oblivious like that.

**Rainbowdragongirl101:** Ohmai, I'd never taken that into consideration before. Then again, I'm sure she already wants me dead for all the stuff I've made her do. What could a couple disclaimers do? XP  
Really? I'm not far into Brotherhood yet! But just wait. Wnk, Wink.

**DaiFoolz:** Thank you! I'm glad you think so!  
Haha, well that's awesome. I like the number too. It's the biggest number of chapters I've reached out of all my stories. XP  
Thanks again. =D

**SummoningShadows18:** I forgot until the day was almost over. It was too late to finish up the chapter, unfortunately. Oh well. Next year will be the 101st anniversary! …_Not as good as an even century,_ but still good!  
They're both so naïve, it's cute. XD  
Yes, it's definitely proven by now. Poor Riley.

**Oh-You-Know:** Lawlz, don't you just love getting WTF stares? XD Thanks! And me too. I do _not_ want my main OC to look like a Winry doppelganger.  
Well then, goal achieved! I wondered who'd be surprised by the beginning of that chapter.

**XjipushiHotaruX:** Really? Thanks! I practically cringed while I wrote that line. XD

**Lani:** Haha xD It was a lot of fun. We watched the entire first season.  
England _is_ awesome, yeah?  
D; Poor America.

**Ausumist:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Aww, haha, I want them together after that too. But we'll just have to wait and see. ;P

**Leenaluvsanime4eva:** Thank you! ;D

**BladedancerOfIce:** Yay! I updated again! ;B  
Tis the life of a writer. -pats back and wishes luck-

**katsekala:** Hehe, thanks! Ed doesn't stand a chance.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** You can bet your ass he loved to see that. ;D  
Poor Riley. All exposed like that.

**TheSteelFlameAlchemist:** Yay! I'm glad.  
Poor Ed. He'll be the butt of short jokes for a long, _long_ time.  
I don't know why, but I loved writing those moments with Ed's dad! So I'm happy you liked them. =D

**fma gal:** She can be so oblivious, yeah? XD

**AnimeVamp1997:** Thank you! =D

**ToshiroHitsugayagirlfriend:** Hehe, she's cold and doesn't even realize why.  
I don't know, actually. I don't really plan out the length of a story when I start it. But I can at least tell you that I plan on writing the movie, as well. There's probably a few more chapters of the series left, and then I'll move onto the movie.

**TallerThanThou ShorterThanThou:** Ohh, thank you! I've been meaning to ask my friend for some Chinese titles, but I keep forgetting. =w=

**Yachiru Hatake:** Haha, yay! I'm glad you like it. ;B

**Silver Wings of Eternal Light:** Haha, really? Riley's like quite a few people, it seems!  
Wow... Six words just for snow? o.o;;

**B.P:** Thank you for comment! I appreciate the time you took reading and reviewing my story.  
The correction's been made. Thanks for that, I don't know much about other languages.  
If you ever do think of what you feel is lacking, please let me know. I need to improve as much as I can.  
Thank you again for the review!

**Inktail097:** Yay, thank you! I love it when people like Riley.

**Scaaagirl:** This review kicked my butt back into gear! 8D

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

ilu gaiz. Rlly.  
(Feels bad.)

For the life of me, I can't remember if Riley has already had an encounter with Sloth. I'm positive she hasn't. If she has and you remember, let me know and I'll tweak this chapter.

I really hate the beginning of this chapter, though, so I may tweak it anyway. Kinda slow-moving at first.

No owny FMA-..y.  
Yes owny... Riley..y.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Three:  
**_A Confession at the Wrong Time _

"For the love of… Will you shut up?" Hannah refused to stop laughing after the little 'incident'. We were still up in the hotel room so I could put some clothes on. The entire time, Hannah sat on the bed. Laughing.

I was _this_ close to exploding on her ass.

Finally, Hannah managed to speak. "I can't help it, Riley… It's – It's so funny!" She panted out, holding her sides. My head shifted out of the bathroom so I could glare at her. She wouldn't think it was so funny if it was _her_ that jumped out of a window naked. Trying to ignore her, I walked back into the bathroom and finished with my boots. I looked into the mirror and sighed as I began to clip my hair up. What was Lust planning? Was she even planning anything? Whatever she was doing, I had to stay alert. For all of our sak-

"So do you think Ed enjoyed the show?" W… What?

My face turned a bright shade of red. Hannah's head was peaking in from the main room, looking up at me with a Cheshire-like smirk. I spun around on my heel and glared down at her. "What kind of question is that? You pervert!" I shouted, only making her snicker in return.

"Like you're one to talk," She murmured, holding a hand over her mouth to hide the fact she was still snickering. Hannah ignored my worsening glare and went back to the room, plopping down on the bed once more. "I hear those comments you make to Ed." I turned back to my reflection in the mirror, shaking my head in exhaustion. A breath of air slid from my mouth as I let my shoulders droop, trying to relax before we continued our adventure. My eyes even found their way shut. I turned to leave, when I heard Hannah's voice again. "Speaking of Ed…" My eyes snapped open and I stopped in my movements. What _now_? "When are you going to tell him?"

It was a vague question, but I knew what she meant.

I was silent of first. The open door stood in front of me and I could see the plain colored floor. Hannah's shadow was cast on it, sitting still as she waited. "…When the time is-"

"Right?" She interrupted me sharply. My eyes shot to the ground directly below me, partly in shame. "And when is the right time, Riley? When all this is over? You know as well as I… You know _better_ than I do, what might happen to us," She lectured in a firm voice. This was one matter Hannah wasn't going to sit idly by on. After a few seconds, she spoke up one last time. "For all we know, you or Ed or the both of you could… What if this is your only chance to tell him, Riley?"

At first, I didn't reply. She was right, but could I really… Tell him? I couldn't even admit it to Hannah, much less _Ed_. Sighing, I walked out of the bathroom and glanced over to her. "Let's go. We're keeping them waiting," I muttered out, avoiding the topic Hannah insisted on talking about. I heard her sigh in annoyance just before I left the room.

We made it outside as Lust and Ed conversed. "Isn't he too considered immortal, then? It's the same, Edward…," She said softly, looking to him with a blank expression. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I knew it was heavy. And Ed didn't like hearing it. But Lust turned away, and faced Hannah and me. "Let's go."

. . .

Ed knelt down on the ground, rummaging through the scrap parts around him. I stood nearby, hands clasped behind me as I tried counting the tiles on the floor. Every time I reached the double digits, a clang or transmutation would distract me from my task, sending me back into grim thoughts. Once Ed had finished creating a makeshift auto-mail arm, he stood as he tested the arm. Feeling a glare, he looked over and blinked curiously when he saw the large pout and glare combo on my face. "…What?"

I remained quiet and stubborn at first. A few seconds passed and I sighed, letting the expression drop as I looked away. "It's nothing," I grumbled out, trying to smash a rock with my boot and failing.

"Riley?" He asked, brows furrowing in concern. I looked back toward him to repeat myself (only louder and more irritated), but a door to our left opened. We both looked over and saw Al and the Furher's assistant. Lust had explained to Hannah and I earlier that her name was Sloth. Ed had apparently already encountered her. His face immediately contorted into a deep scowl. "Of course it was you... Step away from him!" He exclaimed, glaring at the woman.

Al paused. He looked to the woman before turning back to Ed, raising his hand in defense. "Brother – you don't understand!"

"Yeah," The blond snapped out, "She got to me, too, Al. But it's lies. She's not our mother."

"I know what she is, alright? But still-!"

Ed didn't give him time to finish his sentence. "She's using our memories to manipulate us! That _thing_ doesn't have a soul…," Ed growled out.

From behind him, I could see Sloth smile a small, empty smile. "You weren't always so cruel, Edward dear."

I glanced to Ed nervously, and saw his angry expression. He was like a rock. Hearing footsteps, I looked to the source of the sound and saw Tucker nearing Al. "Please, Alphonse, once more…," He rasped out, reaching out toward the boy in desperation.

With narrowed eyes, Ed spat out, "Tucker – you could've killed Al by bringing him here alone!"

Al turned around to face us, and our eyes widened at what we saw. The left side of his abdomen was gone, a deep purple light emitting from inside of him. "It needs equivalent exchange after all," Al commented, "He used it, Ed. And this is what it took."

Ed grew more tense, and angrier. "He tricked you into coming here and then did this? Damn it, there are so many idiots whose asses I have to kick! I'll have to start carrying a list just to keep track of them all!" I knew, in time, I would laugh at this remark, but now wasn't appropriate. "Come on Al, let's get moving."

"You don't need to worry, Edward," Sloth soothed out.

"Why? You plan on bringing Al back to his real body for me?" He questioned sarcastically. "Or are you just going to bring him back to your master to use him till there's nothing left?" She said nothing and he quickly clapped his hands together. "Al, step away!" His arm transmuted into a gun and he began rapid fire upon Sloth. Al dodged to the side to avoid any damage.

Sloth began disappearing, turning into a water-like substance to avoid the bullets. Al stepped in between and Ed stopped shooting. "Don't!" Al shouted, holding his arms up in defiance.

"Don't be stupid, Al!" Ed responded.

The woman formed from the water as she pleaded. "Edward, you're hurting me…"

"Nice try, but I know it takes more than that to kill you!" Ed shouted before turning and running.

I had to dodge to the side when Sloth took off after him. She quickly enclosed him in her transformed arms. "Your mother was talking to you," She mused out with a tiny grin. Ed looked at her from over his shoulder with his own smirk. Her eyes widened as she looked down to see a transmutation circle etched into the ground underneath them. "What is this?" She asked harshly.

"It's designed to seal a homunculus, isn't it?" Ed replied, trying to remove himself from her grasp.

"That's very clever of you. But you're going to have to do more than just that," She retorted.

He once again smirked. "Oh, I know. You need the remains of the one you tried to bring back, right?" He reached into his pockets and slid out a small box. Gunshots suddenly rang out, ripping into Sloth's extended arms. This allowed enough freeway for Ed to turn and lunge forward. He shoved the box into her stomach and she began to 'melt'.

Al began to shout at Ed for digging up their mother, but I tuned it out as I walked down the path behind me. Getting to a corner, I stopped and turned around it to see Hannah, still aiming her gun in the direction of everyone. "Hey… You can come out now," I muttered out, looking down at her.

She remained still at first, staring at the boxes in front of her. Suddenly, her eyes grew big. Her face became pale and she looked up at me shakily. "I-I didn't shoot Edward, did I?"

My expression went deadpan.

"No… You did not shoot Ed. Really, it's not like he's too big to miss," I replied in a dull fashion.

Hannah shook her head, "It's still a possibility! He could've been killed because of me!" Her words struck me, quite harshly in fact. _He could've been killed_… _Without knowing._ "Riley? Let's go!" I jerked out of my thoughts to see Hannah waving her hand in my face.

"R-Right… Let's go, then," I said, nodding as I turned back around. We both made our way back to the area, to see Lust slashing into Sloth. The latter continued to reform after every attack. Ed was nowhere and at first, I began to panic, but soon he came crashing through the window. Even though that wasn't particularly a good thing, I was relieved nonetheless.

He landed, and I noticed Wrath on top of him. The homunculus jumped up and looked toward us all. "Mom!"

Al spun around at the new voice. "Mom?"

"Funny, that's what I said," Ed retorted, standing up as well, "Guess he wanted a mom so bad, he's picked out a new one."

Wrath ignored the brothers, glaring at Lust as he screamed, "Get away from her!" He ran forward and began transmutation all the guns beside him. Lust's eyes widened and she took off as he began shooting at her. I dodged back behind machinery, Hannah following suit, and spotted Sloth transport herself into Al's body. Al became stiff as she took over, and forced him to turn and walk away.

Growling in annoyance, I looked to Hannah. "Stay back here and try to help Lust!" I shouted before taking off. She shouted my name in protest, but it went by ignored as I ran after Ed and Al.

There were so many turns to take, I lost them at first. When I finally found them, Al was stumbling back, a blue substance covering his armor. "Al?" Edward asked in worry.

"Mom… S-Stop," Al pleaded, trying to control his movements.

Ed stepped forward, and Al slammed his arm into Ed's stomach. My eyes widened when I saw Ed fly across the room. "Ed!" I shouted, running out of hiding. Reaching him, I leaned down and grabbed his arm, helping him back up. We both stood straight as we looked to Al, who shook in resistance.

"Don't bother trying to come near us, Edward," Sloth's voice rang out from Al's body. I scowled at the arrogance of her voice. She was getting irritating. She lunged toward us in Al's body and Ed and I dodged out of the way, going in separate directions. My feet hit the ground and I stumbled slightly, only to back into the wall. Al turned toward me and began to step forward. The closer he got, the more he shook. "You must be Riley… My boys seem to care quite a bit about you and your friend, dear," She mused.

Frowning, I glared at him… Er, her. "Go suck it," I spat out. Al ran toward me and I once again jumped out of the way, rolling forward when I tripped. _Again_. Ed came at us to distract Sloth, causing Al's armor to go after him. Soon enough, Al began striking at us back and forth, giving either of us little time to perform alchemy. It didn't help that I couldn't touch him. If I did, I'd probably wind up killing us all.

"_What if this is your only chance to tell him, Riley?"_

What? Why did that… Maybe I should…

"E-Ed!" I exclaimed just before ducking the swing of Al's arm. Seeing Ed look over, I frowned, "I need to tell you something!"

An incredulous look crossed over Ed's face, but my expression didn't budge. He stopped moving at first, but quickly had to ump to the side to avoid a hit. "Do you really think now is the time for that, Riley?"

Shrugging, I paused nervously. I stepped back, leaning away from the fist that aimed at my face as I replied, "Apparently, it's the perfect time!"

A small scowl and twitch came from Ed as he shook his head, "What is it?"

"Concentrate on this fight!" Sloth shouted irritably as she swung at us both. We dodged, getting further apart from one another.

"**I love you**!"

Ed stopped. He stared across at me with wide eyes. It felt like time had frozen… Like everything was moving slower. Until Sloth slammed her extended arm into his face, that is. Instinctively, I covered my mouth in shock and, well, guilt when Ed flew back through the air. "Ed!" After a few seconds, Ed sat up, rubbing the bruise on his cheek. "S-Sorry!" I nervously shouted.

Ignoring me, Ed looked up to our opponent. Sloth was no longer inside Al's body. The younger Elric fell to the ground as Sloth explained her 'reasons' for killing them. Her memories were her chains, or some shit. I wasn't paying attention and I don't really remember anymore. My mind was only on one thing; I just confessed to Edward Elric. _That I loved him_. Did I even love him? I mean, I hadn't even admitted that to myself yet!

When I tuned back into the real world, Ed was blocking Sloth's attacks using alchemy on the ground. "What do we do, Brother?" Al asked, uncertain.

"It's just like you said, she's our responsibility!" Ed shouted before transmuting his automail into a blade. He ran forward and sliced her, but she only came back. The process of blocking her constant attacks started up again; this time, Ed using his blade. Al and I could only watch from the sidelines.

"Mom!"

Turning around, we saw Wrath run in. My eyes widened for a moment when I realized Hannah wasn't with us. _She's okay_… _Right_? Looking back to the fight, growing only more anxious, I saw Ed's blade piercing Sloth's chest. The blade began to glow, and Sloth exploded into mere droplets of her watery substance. Assuming they had the situation under control, I took off out of the building to find Hannah.

I ran into the building Hannah and Lust were in, and began to look around. "Hannah!"

As I weaved in and out of piles of rubble, I heard Hannah's voice, "R-Riley…" Stopping, I turned and ran in the direction of the voice. Finally I reached the clearing we were originally in. Hannah sat there, panting but unharmed nonetheless. It was Lust that was the concern.

"I tried to stop him… But I couldn't," She muttered out, glancing down to the lifeless body.

"…" Sighing, I walked over and helped her stand. "It's not your fault, Hannah. Let's… Let's just go back to Ed and Al." She hesitantly gave an almost unnoticeable nod in return, letting herself be picked up from the floor. It was slow, but we walked to the exit in silence as Hannah tried to overcome what happened. As sad as it was, and as much as I felt bad for Hannah, I couldn't stick to it. My mind was somewhere else.

Ed.

Did I really just tell him… _That_?

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	44. Сорок чотири! That's 44!

Okay guys, the last chapteroftheyear! I wish I had started writing chapter forty-three sooner, then maybe I could have finished the entire story _exactly three years_ _after it was started_. But oh well.

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANK****ÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ****ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG. **

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** And that's exactly what Riley wanted to do, I'm sure! Her sense of timing is horrible.

**Scaaagirl:** Thank you! And yes! Finally! 8D

**CloudEnvyKunoichi:** Haha! I love that play-by-play! I felt almost shell-shocked just _writing_ it. Unfortunately his reaction isn't in this chapter – but it'll be in the next one. Promise.

**Fma gal:** Finally, she did! Thank you! Glad you like it!

**AliceInNeverLand:** Yeeaah, I'm really sorry for not updating for like, two months beforehand. The holidays had me busy! (And have fun at the Avenged Sevenfold concert. They're awesome live~) And thank you!

**SummoningShadows18:** No! I'm not dead! Aww, haha, miss me that much? Here's the next update! 8D (Really? Haha, my first episode was when Ed… You know. How sad is that? I began watching an anime, already knowing how it ended.)

**katsekala:** Exactly. You have to just kind of work that in there with his schedule.

**Yumixjaganshi:** FINALLY! Haha, right? She's horrible at timing. Aww, I love the Cheshire Cat. I was some.. Decapitated, vampire, zombie thing. EDLEY. I love that.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: **Oh, his heart most definitely soared!… And then _he_ soared, when Sloth punched him. 8D

**The Emo OtakuLani:** RIGHT? IT TOOK HER LONG ENOUGH. America FTW. I'm still a huge fan of Germany and Prussia. (Which is exactly why I got necklaces with Germany on them for Christmas, haha.)

**Jyro:** You were there!… In my _mind_. Lawlz, I know, but I was bored! XD

**Xkyo:** I actually don't hate her anymore. She's just… Okay, now.

**Ausumist:** That's true, but there will still be awkwardness, my friend! Aww, thank you. I'm glad you think so. Ed is one of my favorite characters to write out, so that means a lot. And I'm glad you like Riley. She's been molded at for three years now, haha.

**StrawberryLily88:** Yep! Now we just need Ed's reaction. o.o

**YaddaGirl:** Riley lives for bizarre times. Thank you, I'm glad you like it! XD

**rainbowdragongirl101:** Believe it. She confessed!  
And about Hannah being Envy… Well, read forward.  
Brotherhood already ended? (That shows you how far behind I am. x.x)

**The Esper Alchemist:** Oh, okay~ Welcome, officially, to FF. xD

**XjipushihotaruX:** Seriously! Fort-three freaking chapters! Haha, that's just how Riley rolls.

**TallerThanThou ShorterThanThou:** Oh God, I love that. I'm going to be singing that for the rest of the year now. 8D

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…**

Merry Christmas, Happy New Years and all other holidays everybody! I hope you guys had a great year. I definitely did, even if I am sick~  
Did you get anything you were _really_ wanting? I know I did. (Cuddles with camera equipment.)

Originally, Ed's reaction to Riley's confession was going to be in this chapter. But I miscalculated how long it was going to be, and I wound up moving it to the next chapter. I'm sorry for that, because I was really looking forward to posting his reaction soon, but I need to write four episodes into seven chapters. I have to spread things out as much as I can!

You know that blond kid with the red coat and the missing limbs? Yeah, I don't own him. But that awesome brunette chick that kicks ass? Yeah. I own her. So back off, pal.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Four  
**One Big Freaking Reunion

"I can't believe she's gone…," Hannah mumbled under her breath as we walked between all the machinery. The exit was in sight.

Sighing, I refused to look back at her. My face was emotionless and I didn't want her thinking I didn't care. "Don't blame yourself, Hannah. We all know what we're risking. So did she."

"Then again, that's what traitors deserve." My eyes narrowed. Hannah's voice had become much bolder. It almost sounded like… I gasped slightly at the realization, and spun around to see Envy standing there. He smirked down at me and before I could react, his fist slammed into my cheek. The impact shoved me backwards and against a machine where I hit my head. My vision blurred as I fell to the ground.

Just before I blacked out totally, I saw a bloodied Hannah not too far away from me.

With Ed and Al.

Ed and Al stood side by side as they looked down at homunculus. Wrath, on all fours, sobbed loudly at the death of Sloth. His 'mother'. It was a sad sight, but the two had goals to accomplish. They couldn't be affected. "Edward! Alphonse!"

Turning around in surprise, the brothers saw Winry standing in the doorway. "Is that you, Winry?" Ed asked curiously, and somewhat confused. What was she doing _there_?

Al voiced Ed's thoughts, asking, "What are you doing here? Did something bad happen?"

Looking down, Winry shook her head. She gave them a small smile as she explained. "I came because I was worried about you. But I see you finally beat her."

The two went quiet. Al shifted, going on alert, as Ed's eyes narrowed. "You're not Winry Rockbell," He stated firmly.

Al began advancing toward her, when she shouted, "Alphonse, you're the one I've always loved!" He paused momentarily, in turn allowing 'Winry' just enough time to sweep around him and grab his arm. She swung it behind his back and kept him in place. "Well that was easy," She remarked, smirking as her voice became bolder.

"It's too late! I _am_ the Philosopher's Stone!" Al exclaimed.

Turning her head to look down at him, she replied casually, "Yeah, that's what I've heard." Smirking more maliciously, she transformed into Envy. "Why don't I give the new you a test drive? Now that you've become the stone, let's see how much your cute little seal job can take!" He said as he reached his fist into Al's armor. Finding the seal, he punched it and watched as the insides of the Elric glowed red.

"Leave my brother alone, you bastard!" Ed shouted angrily, stepping forward.

Envy glanced back at him. "I know how you love being protective, but relax. I'm just taking him back to my master."

Glaring, Ed concluded, "That must be who Lust was talking about… She said he's just using you to get what he wants, not caring about you homunculi!"

"So what?" Envy asked with a small scowl, "I don't care. Besides, you shouldn't talk about my master like that… You two go back quite a ways."

Ed's wides widened. Did that mean…? "He knew about our mom's death, and helped her become a homunculus. There was only one other person who could know about that… Then that means…"

"No, Ed, don't say it!" Al protested, "Dad would never do that!"

Growing bored, Envy tossed Al over his shoulder. "We've talked enough," He commented as he turned and began to walk away.

"Al!" Ed shouted, rushing forward. When he saw familiar black and silver hair, his body froze. Radley Blackburn stood there, Riley hung limply over his shoulder. "Riley!"

Radley and Envy ignored the boy and walked off as Wrath attacked him. "_That's_ how you do it, Blackburn…," Envy said with a large smirk planted on his face.

"By leaving their friends alive for your pure amusement?" Radley asked before snorting slightly, "I prefer just doing the job. I guess that's the difference of our maturity." Envy glared at him angrily, but said nothing. He already had someone to unleash his anger on and for the time being, she was completely defenseless.

With Riley

I groaned as I began to come to and instantly felt sharp pain on the back of my head and all over my face. At first I couldn't remember what happened but the pain brought it back. _Envy_. Noticing a shoulder shoved in my stomach, I opened my eyes and saw the back of a black coat. Black and silver hair swayed in front of me and my eyes widened. Blackburn, too? Trying to look around, I saw nothing but trees. I could hear an extra set of footsteps, as well as moving metal. Al? Did Envy get him too?

Slowly and quietly, I moved my elbow and slammed it into Blackburn's back. I heard him gasp from the impact, loosening his grip around my waist. I grabbed his back with one hand and, with the other, pushed off of his head. I rolled off him and caught my balance, stumbling slightly as I tried to keep standing. Unfortunately, I was disoriented. Blackburn took advantage of this and slammed his hand into my cheek, sending me to the ground.

Before I could stand, I felt a food slide its way under my neck and push my head up. I winced as tree roots pulled at my arms. The two forces contradicted one another, leaving a stretched pain in my neck as I was forced to look up at the owner of the foot. Envy smirked down at me. "You've been causing some trouble, brat."

I knew I shouldn't, but… You know me. I can't resist. Looking up at him, I rasped out, "Get used to it."

His foot smacked into my face almost instantly after the words escaped me. I fell away from the impact, causing the roots to constrict tighter around my arms. He stepped forward to continue his torture, when a large white blur attacked him, throwing him toward the ground away from me. I watched in curiosity and surprise as a familiar man stood up off of Blackburn. He turned around to see me and gave a small smirk. "Do you have any idea how long it took to find you, Kid?"

Another man stepped out of the shadows from behind him, looking down at Envy. "Guess we just had to follow that scum around," He muttered with a scowl. My eyes widened at the sight of the both of them.

_I opened the door to Greed's shack to see his two men, Dog Boy and Big Guy, charging at Lust. Bad idea. She smirked and raised her hand. I knew it was then or never. Running forward was like a race with her nails. A battle with time and speed._

_I clapped my hands together and leaped forward, grabbing her nail closest to me, and shoving it into the other nail. I slammed them both to the ground and she screamed as I melted the wood and, basically, glued her to the floor. Smirking, I looked up at her and charged. This was going to feel good. "This is for the last time we met, bitch!" I shouted, socking her right in the eye. She let out a yelp as her nails were pried from the floor by the impact. Hearing Gluttony come at me, I spun around, kicking him on the chin. "THAT'S FOR TRYING TO EAT ME, YOU SICK-O!" I screamed, panting as he stumbled backward._

_Knowing I had used up enough time, I looked over my shoulder at the two men. They stood, blank looks on their faces as they blinked simply. I pointed to Lust and Gluttony, "I'll, um... Let you two finish this up then." What that said, I ran out of there to find Greed and Al._

"Y-You two!" I exclaimed, surprised they were still alive.

Dog Boy looked over and grinned, "Told you she'd remember us, Law."

Envy glared at us all as he had to grab Al, who tried to escape his grasp. "Damn it, Blackburn, do something!"

Blackburn seemed reluctant to follow an order from Envy, but darted toward us anyhow. Before he could reach me, Dog Boy slammed his shoulder into Blackburn's stomach, causing Blackburn to fall against a tree. "What are you two doing here?" I finally managed to ask.

Big Guy, Law, knelt down beside me and ripped away the roots from my arms. He helped me stand as he explained, "We've been looking for you to thank you for that time. As well as catch your name…?"

"O-Oh, I'm Riley," I answered simply, forgetting about the fact Envy stood only a few feet away from us.

He nodded. They were both still fashioned in military uniforms. His white facial hair hadn't changed since I had seen him last, nor had Dog Boy's spiky hair. "I'm Law. This is Dorochet," He replied politely.

I was about to speak once more, but Dorochet cut me off. "Where's Greed and Marta?"

Oh shit.

Faltering, I shook my head slowly. "Greed was killed then. And Marta… The Furher found out we were hiding her and killed her," I explained softly.

Their eyes widened, but it was Envy who made the next move. "Stop chatting, all of you!" We looked over at him and Dorochet was thrown against a tree by Blackburn, who recovered from Dorochet's attack. Law turned around to see what happened, only to have Blackburn charging at him as well. Law sent his fist toward him and he dodged, punching the man in the stomach. My eyes widened as he coughed up blood.

I stepped forward to stop Blackburn, but Dorochet moved in front of me. "Go, get out of here," He said as he glared at the opponent.

"What? He'll kill you both!"

He nodded firmer. "That's what we're willing to risk. You did the same for us that day. Now get out of here! We've got this."

I didn't want to, but I knew it was a losing argument. They were set on doing this and Envy had escaped. I needed to save Al. Sighing, I nodded finally and glared at them both. "You better make it out alive!" I shouted before turning and running off. Hopefully they would make it…

. . .

"You've really grown up, Edward…"

This was the first thing Hannah heard when she came to. Slowly opening her eyes, all she could see at first was a blue blur. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to adjust and remember where she was. It all suddenly came back to her harshly. _Riley!_ Hannah tried to stand, but her arms and legs were weak from being stationary so long. Crumbling back to the floor in a heap, she looked up to assess where everything was. It was all still a blur, but she managed to start crawling her way back into the main area.

"Grown up?… I thought I'd grown up when I was certified as a State Alchemist but obviously I still had a long way to go from there."

That was Ed's voice. Hannah knew it was. So then he was okay? Maybe, then, that meant Riley was too.

"So what do we do now?"

But who was that? She knew it was a woman, and it was familiar, but she couldn't recognize it.

"Well the way I see it, there's only one of the homunculi left that we can account for, that we know where to find."

Were they leaving already? No, they couldn't. Not without her! They couldn't just leave her! _Not again, anyway_…

"I take it you're talking about the big one. Furher Bradly."

Finally Hannah reached the area, and was able to make them out. Ed stood there, that she already knew. But the other woman was no longer a mystery. Izumi stood across from him. Hannah reached out, trying to speak. Her voice was raspy and cracked the first few times, too low to be heard. Breathing in, she let it out as loudly as possible. "Ed! Izumi!"

Hearing a voice, Ed looked past Izumi and immediately noticed Hannah. Eyes widening, he took off around his former teacher and ran toward the girl. "Hannah!" He exclaimed, bending down to grab her. As Izumi rushed over, Hannah looked up to them weakly. "Riley… E-Envy got her…," She said, her voice getting stronger the more she spoke.

Ed slowly helped her to her feet and Izumi grabbed her other arm to help. "I know," Ed nodded, his face turning sour, "He got Al, too." The three left the area, Izumi cleaning Hannah's wounds.

. . .

Finally reaching Central after finding my way out of the forest, I began walking through the town. People stared at me oddly, which I didn't blame them. Blood was dripping down from my forehead and back of my neck, where I hit my head; not to mention the bruise forming on my cheek and small cuts along my arms. Who _wouldn't_ stare? I didn't know where exactly it was I was going, but I knew I had to find someone. Be it Ed, Al or even an officer I could trust.

"P-Please, what's going on?"

Looking over to the sound, my eyes widened when I saw a group of officers leaving a bookstore. In their grasps were two blondes I hadn't seen in a long time. _What's with the reunions all of a sudden? _"Don't act like you don't know, Elric brothers!" The officers exclaimed. Fletcher and Russel struggled against the officers, who threw them in the back of a truck.

Elric… Brothers? He was at it again? That idiot must not have gotten enough the first ti- Wait, why was he even there in the first place? Curiosity grew inside me and I took off after the vehicle after I lifted a bike from a kid (…Don't judge me.)

. . .

I walked along the gateway of Central Headquarters quietly, trying not to bring attention to myself. It was a long journey there but I managed it. The car I was following had probably arrived far before I did, leaving me to assume Russel and Fletcher were already in a cell. Sneaking my way around to the side of the building, I transmuted a bit of the gate wall and created a hole just big enough to squeeze through. I peered in to the other side and slipped through the gate when I made sure the area was clear. God, was I feeling Deja Vu that day. Running across the area, I reached the building wall and created another hole. The light appeared and as it died down, a bit of the wall disappeared. And there was the building hallway!

…And an officer. Oh shit.

"H-Hey!" He shouted, stepping back in surprise at the sudden alchemist coming from the wall.

My eyes widened when I saw him turn to alert the others. Leaping forward, I landed hard on his back and snatched his gun from him, knocking him out with it. I winced when I heard the thump, but I knew I had to do it. One more crime wouldn't hurt my now never ending list. Holding the gun securely in my hands, I looked up and walked down the hall, checking every corner for an officer. A few minutes into sneaking around, I reached a hallway. Looking around it, I ran across the gap when the officer down the hall wasn't looking. I walked along the side of the halls and, just as I began to pass a door, it swung open. My eyes widened as my body froze.

Shit. Shit shit shit…!

Slowly glancing up from the side of my eye, I almost jumped for joy when I saw Maria Ross standing there. Gasping slightly, she stepped back in surprise. "Riley?" She exclaimed before pulling me into the room. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story…," I replied as I looked around the room, just relieved she hadn't put me in handcuffs yet. Block sat at a table not too far away, and two blondes sat across from him. "Fletcher, Russel!"

The little boy looked over and grinned when he saw me. "Riley?" He jumped down from the chair and rushed over. "It's so good to see you!" Then his face fell. "…What happened?"

"It seems that midget failed to protect his partner." I looked up to see Russel walking over, smirking at the fact he already had the chance to make fun of Ed. Normally I would have laughed, but seeing as I had just confessed my love to the midget, the word 'partner' sent me into a fit of blushing.

My face went red entirely and Fletcher freaked, thinking it was more blood. "B-Big Brother, she's bleeding all over now!" He shouted, flailing his arms around in concern.

As Maria Ross grabbed a first aid kit, Russel stepped aside to let me sit down. He ignored his brother and turned serious, sitting across from me. "What _did_ happen, Riley?" I sighed, shaking my head before indulging into the story as Russel took the first aid kit from Maria Ross and tended to my wounds. For an identity thief, he was surprisingly gentle about it.

. . .

"Quit making excuses!"

"Let it go!"

Sighing, my expression turned deadpan as I rested my cheek on the palm of my hand. "Yep, that's them." Russel glanced back to me and nodded before looking toward the door. He had drawn a transmutation circle on the wall, creating a large vine. Fletcher and Block held the vine as Maria Ross was positioned by the door.

The footsteps outside the wall grew louder, until they were right in front of the door. Maria Ross swung it open, letting Fletcher and Block throw the vine out the door. When they pulled it back, Izumi, Hannah and Ed came tumbling into the room. I sighed in relief at the sight of Hannah – she looked as though she recovered well. Maria Ross shut the door as Russel used alchemy to remove it. I watched as the three rubbed their sore bodies from hitting the ground, and Block smiled nervously. "I hope you're not injured, FullMetal."

Ed looked up and first noticed Russel and Fletcher. "It's you guys… The imposters!"

Russel scowled, raising his fist to the shorter of the two. "I have a name! Russel Tringham!"

I couldn't help but snicker at this. Looking away, I muttered out, "Though imposter suits you better."

Turning, Russel opened his mouth to scold me but Ed, having _finally_ noticed me, rushed to the table and firmly gripped my shoulders. I could see Hannah looking at me over his shoulder, just as concerned as him. "Riley! Are you okay? How'd you wind up here?"

At first I said nothing. The position he put us in was… Well, awkward. Finally realizing how close he was, he blushed and yanked himself away from me, tripping over the floor in the process. I scowled at this. He didn't have to act like I was a germ, jeez… "I woke dangling over Blackburn's shoulder and managed to get off of him." Pausing, I glanced away as I added, "Two of Greed's friends found me and fought Blackburn off so I could leave."

He was definitely surprised by the answer, especially about Dorochet and Law. It was quiet at first, partly in remorse of Greed. Finally looking up, Ed glanced to the Tringham brothers. "And how'd you two get here?"

"Some MPs arrested them because they thought they were you and your brother," Maria Ross explained simply.

Looking away, Russel turned around. "Honestly, I don't know how they could get confused. You're only about half as tall as I am!" Russel commented, waving his hand for added effect.

Instantly, Ed exploded in Russel's face. "What did you say?" Fletcher stepped in to stop them, but wound up only adding one more person into the argument. Hannah, being Hannah, tried to speak up to stop them but only went by ignored. It brought a smile to my face, seeing Ed get so irritated. I hadn't made any short jokes in a while… And all my other jokes, he just ignored. Was Ed learning how to deal with me? Did he… Grow immune to my jokes? Oh God, the horror of that thought. I was nothing without that.

Hearing yelling outside the room, I finally snapped out of my thoughts. Ed looked down to Fletcher and smiled a bit. "In all seriousness, it was really good seeing you guys again. But we have to go now."

"Where to?" Maria Ross questioned.

Izumi turned to grin at Maria Ross. "We're going to pay the Furher a little house call," She mused out. Maria Ross gasped a bit.

Ed remained blank. "We have no other choice."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Everyone looked to Fletcher, who was searching through his pockets. Finally finding it, whatever it was, he slipped out a piece of paper and handed it to Ed. "Take this."

Russel moved his gaze to Ed. "It's an exert from our father's journal. There's some information about Central that you might want," He explained.

As Ed began to read the paper, I stood and made my way over to look over his shoulder at it. Both of us almost gasped in surprise. "Teacher!" Ed exclaimed, looking up. Izumi ran over and looked at it as well.

She was just as surprised. "This means…"

Before anything else could have been said or done, one of the walls were blown in. I blocked my face from rubble and dust before lowering my arm. The dust died down to reveal Archer standing there. But there was something different. His entire left side was auto-mail.

A Robot Archer.

And to think I hated the _first_ version.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	45. Sitomattomasta! That's 45!

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANK****ÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline,**which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ****ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

_Yes, this is the same announcement as the last chapter. I'm posting on the next five chapters, too, to make sure everyone reads it and knows what's going on. Sorry to be 'BAM LISTEN TO ME YOU WINCHES' but it's important enough to be all like 'U SHUD LIEK TTLLY LISIN 2 MI OK?'_

* * *

It's a new year! Yesterday was the third year anniversary of The Sulfur Alchemist. I ate out and when I came back home, I found someone had reviewed the story! What an awesome Three Year Anniversary present! I hope you guys had fun on New Year's Eve and Day. I did.

Once again, I find myself apologizing for the length of a chapter. When I was planning the last few chapters, I thought I'd have enough material for this one. Guess I was wrong. But oh well. You get Ed's reaction this time around, so that should make up for it, yeah? 8D

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**TheSteelFlameAlchemist:** That's one hell of a nightmare.  
8D! Hopefully it's good! I've only got half of chapter one actually written, and that's still subject to change.

**Katsekala:** Thank you! I'm glad you think so.

**The Esper Alchemist:** LAWL, I think it's safe to say he should start looking for a new one.

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** That palmtree is horrid. He must die!  
Same for Robot Archer. XD

**CloudEnvyKunoichi:** I love how half of the reviews mention that kid and his bike. That's freaking awesome. 8D I will too. I hate ending stories. It's been such a long journey and all of sudden, it comes to a close. But like you said, there's still a sequel and I have to think about that now. Yep, Ed reacts in this one (finally). And please do review! I love them.

**Rat300:** Haha, that's awesome. I'm glad you liked this story so much, you sacrificed sleep for it! I love getting new readers, so welcome to the club. XP

**yumiXjaganshi:** IT ENDED THERE, SO NYAAA. Hah, I originally had a glomp in mind but in order to stick to the storyline, I went with that scene instead. Can't forget those Tringham brothers. AND HERE'S YER UPDATE, YAY.

**Oh-You-Know:** It's alright, you're still awesome. XD CLIFFHANGERS FTW! I hope this is quick enough. I usually update every two weeks, not one.

**Ausumist:** Thank you! Her humor has gotten challenging to keep writing in these serious scenes. Subtle humor is all I can manage at the moment. The sequel, which is much more relaxed, will restore her epicness.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** I've been waiting forever to add Law and Dorochet back into this story! Haha, I can assure you, he remembered. XD

**White CandyCane:** 8D You're welcome? Thank you, though, for the review! I'm glad you like it!

**Songbird Alchemist:** Read this chapter and you'll get closer to finding that out, haha.

**SuperNekofan:** Hehe, his reaction was supposed to be in that last chapter but it didn't work out unfortunately. It's in this one though!

**Dragonjess:** Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you like Riley. She's come a long way. Being relate-able while still holding her own characteristics is a challenge in itself so I'm glad I seemed to accomplish some of that.  
Haha, yes, the story is ending! I wish it wasn't, but it's the inevitable. Hopefully the sequel's good! I'm getting there!  
I have returned from the Magical Writer's Land with the next chapter! Ohonhonhon~

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:** Thank you! You're the one that read and reviewed that chapter on the Three Year Anniversary, so thanks for the epic Anniversary gift, hurr~ 83

**Want to be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

I don't want this story to end. D8 Not now, at least. College is around the corner (I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO PREPARE, I'M NOT EVEN IN A COLLEGE, AAAAGH) and I can't get through it without this story to calm my nerves!

Sigh. Oh well. What happens, happens.  
I don't own Rile- Wait. I don't own _Ed_. _Riley_, is mine. I own Riley. Not Ed. (See, I'm so upset, I can't function properly.)

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Five**  
Reactions

Did I ever mention I hate Archer? I did? Okay, good. Just wanted to make sure that was out there.

He stood across from us all (Maria Ross, Block, Izumi, Tringham Brothers, Hannah, Ed and me) with a smug smirk slapped on his face. Maria Ross was stunned. "It couldn't be…," She mumbled out, frozen with a mixture of confusion, fear and shock.

Archer didn't acknowledge her. Instead, he kept his eyes on Izumi, Ed and I. "Edward Elric. Riley Mauler. And the woman who escaped from South Headquarters," He stated. His voice was a cheesy robotic voice now, and his lips remained still. It was creepy. "I've been looking for you." His mouth opened and a small canon emerged from it. _Okay, I change my mind, I like it better when his lips don't move!_ Ed grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the ground as Izumi and Hannah went in the other direction, just narrowly avoiding his bullets.

We stood back up and Izumi slid in front of us. "Leave the tank head to me. You go to the place mentioned in that journal," Izumi ordered firmly.

"Teacher…," Ed warned, but she quickly interrupted.

"If you're going to keep calling me that, then do what I say! Now go!" She ordered once more. He seemed reluctant, but nodded anyway. Turning, he ran off. Hannah and I followed closely behind while Maria Ross and Block guided Russel to the door with his brother. We all ran down the hall without a word. As much as we needed to get away from Archer, we didn't need anyone else spotting us either.

Finally arriving outside, Maria Ross looked to Ed and me. "Good luck, you two. Be careful," She warned.

We both nodded. "I could say the same to you," Ed replied casually.

Turning, we began to walk off, when I noticed someone wasn't following. I stopped and looked back. Hannah stood among the brothers, Maria Ross and Block. "Hannah…?" I asked, curious as to why she wasn't following.

Ed stopped when he heard me and turned around as well. Pausing, Hannah slowly shook her head. "This is it for me," She replied, shrugging her shoulders as she glanced away. Looking back to me, she gave a small smile. "I know how important this is, but I can't keep going. It's… It's scary, Riley."

"…" I nodded. My face remained blank. "I understand. Where will you be going, though?"

"Well, I don't think my parents would mind giving a pair of homeless boys a place to stay for a while…," Hannah implied, glancing back to Russel and Fletcher, "Given I explain the situation correctly."

I grinned a bit at this. Leave it up to her to think of the brothers. "Alright then."

She walked over, wrapping her arms around me. A few moments passed before she pulled away and she removed her bag from her shoulder. She pulled out my camera and handed it over. "I'll see you at the church."

We stared at one another for a few seconds before I finally took it off her hands. She nodded at me one more time, and I turned. "Let's go, Ed," I said simply, pulling the camera strap over my head. He nodded softly and we both climbed our way over the wall.

Arriving at the top of the gate wall, we jumped down onto the ground, just as a car approached. It screeched to a stop and Ed slammed his hands onto it. "Hey, we need your car!" He exclaimed, but shut up as he moved back slightly. Inside the car was Mustang and Hawkeye. I raised a brow when I saw them. Ed stood straighter, frowning. "Mustang… Did you come here to capture us too?"

. . .

You ever been in a car that was too damn small for everyone so you wound up squished in between two people? Yeah? Well has one of those people ever been a midget you confessed your love to who had an authority issue with the other guy? No? So that one's just me.

That pretty much explained my predicament. We sat in the back of the car, Ed on my left and Mustang on my right. Both had their arms crossed, which gave me even less room believe it or not. "So where were you headed before you ran into us?" Ed questioned.

I glanced to Mustang as he replied. "To the Furher's estate."

"Going to give his kid a birthday present?" Ed retorted sarcastically. Mustang was silent, as was Hawkeye. I glanced to them both as I tried figuring it out. They must have been going against military orders as well. "I see, so it's classified," Ed muttered to himself, realizing neither would give him an answer. "Well just a heads up, he'll know you're coming."

"Armstrong staged a coup for me up the northern front. The Furher would never imagine that I would be right back here under his nose in Central," Mustang explained. So I was partly right.

Ed narrowed his eyes at Mustang. Since I was in the middle, it felt like he was glaring at me which made it awkward. "I thought you were all about following orders and kissing ass so you could become Furher one day," He retorted.

I shoved my foot into his knee, causing him to grunt. "Wait a minute," Hawkeye started in irritation, "That's not fair – you became a military dog too, so you could chase your dreams. Don't go-"

"Take it easy," Mustang casually mumbled, raising his hand lazily. She quieted down, though I agreed with her. "The end justifies the means when it comes to achieving my ultimate goal. Back then, that just seemed like the right stance for me to take," Mustang replied blankly.

"You realize there will be no justification in the eyes of the public if you go against the Furher. Even if you pull this off, you'll never be allowed to succeed with your reputation," Ed stated.

Mustang was quiet at first. Without looking to either of us, he gave a simple response. "That may be so. But I can't let him get away with what he's done," He said, his eyes narrowing. My expression fell at this.

Ed looked back ahead. "So you're doing all this to avenge Hughes."

"He must have known what was going on in the military. And for that, he was killed," Mustang explained.

"…And you're willing to risk everything. Your entire career."

Mustang was quick with his reply; "Without a second thought." He smiled slightly, looking down to Ed. "Funny, the both of us setting all the crap we were put through aside to focus on our dreams." I felt even smaller at this point. They were staring at one another, _like I wasn't sitting between them_, talking about dreams, _which I had none_. _Way to make me feel like a loser, guys_… "I can't… Let you two come with me," Mustang said as he looked back ahead. _Oh, so NOW you notice I'm here!_

"When I first joined the military, I didn't fully grasp war. It was just something happening in a far off land, not effecting me at all. But then I heard about these people ready to start a war over a stone… There will never be a war that isn't, at some point, caused by all of us," Ed rambled, frowning at his thoughts. _He's having too much fun with this now that he's found out he can think, if you ask me._

"You're thinking on too large a scale there, Kid. If we don't want to drive ourselves crazy, each of us can only deal with what's directly in front of us," Mustang replied.

It was silent a bit more, until Ed spoke again. "What's in front of me is the one the homunculi call their leader. And for that, I'll destroy the Philosopher's stone once and for all. No one will hunger for its power again."

Surprised, Hawkeye glanced to us through the rear view mirror. "Destroy?"

Mustang looked at us as well. "So that means the Philosopher's Stone has been completed. I guess it's the one Scar created."

"In the end, it wasn't just Scar who forged the Philosopher's Stone. It was in our own hearts. All of us," Ed replied vaguely.

"But wasn't that your dream all along? To one day use the stone to get back what you and your brother lost?" Hawkeye questioned softly, still surprised.

"…All of that would mean nothing if it came at the expense of so much pain," Ed muttered, almost wincing at the thought of it.

. . .

The sun was beginning to set, casting a red glow over the sky. Mustang, Ed and I stood in the road, a few feet from the car where Hawkeye waited for her companion. There was a mutual silence between us all. Mustang raised his hand to salute but faltered before lowering it. He extended his hand to shake on it. What was once a grudging relationship was now a respected friendship. Ed glanced down at it before reaching forward. He slapped Mustang's hand and gave a grin. Mustang returned the expression. "Goodbye, FullMetal."

"Goodbye, General."

A hand clapped down on my shoulder. Mustand had turned his gaze to me. "Take care, Riley."

I nodded, silent at first. "…Kick his ass, Mustang." He smirked at my 'goodbye'. He patted my shoulder before lifting his hand and turning away. Without another glance to us, he walked to the car and got back inside it. Hawkeye drove away as we watched the car leave in the distance. And once again, a mutual silence fell. Well, until…

"Riley." Looking over my shoulder, I saw Ed staring at the ground. He looked dead serious about something and I began to get worried. Was he abandoning me somewhere? "About what you said at the factory…"

…I prefer my theory.

Freezing up, I slowly inched back around to face ahead, and away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about," I stated through my pursed lips.

Shoulders hunching up in annoyance, he looked back up to glare at me. "Yes you do!" He snapped out.

A long pause followed. Sighing, I glanced to the side of my eye but didn't move. "Fine. What about it?"

"…Did Hannah make you say it?"

W-What? Tumbling over, caught my balance and spun around to look down at him. His narrowed eyes looked up at me, scrutinizing me as he tried to find the answer. "What?" I finally voiced my thoughts. He nodded, showing he wanted an answer. "…," Glancing away, I pouted slightly as I mumbled out, "You could say that."

Ed stepped back in surprise. "I knew it," He muttered, looking back down, "She told you about our conversation. Damn it! I didn't tell her she was right. She had no right to assume she was." He continued grumbling to himself about it, but the rest was incoherent. Eventually he began rubbing the back of his neck, shaking his head at the thought of… Well, whatever it was he was thinking about.

Deadpanned expression, I watched him silently. Finally, I spoke. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked bluntly.

It was the blond's turn to freeze up. Slowly, his hand lowered to his side as he looked up just as slow. "What? You mean… She… _Didn't_ tell you about our conversation?" He asked, unsure. When I shook my head, he began to blush. "Then what are you talking about? You said she made you say that!"

Twitching, I glared down at him as I began to get fed up with whatever the hell we were talking about. "She did! She's been bugging me to tell you that for weeks now because she thinks I'm hiding something by not telling you! What are _you _talking about?"

"She asked me if I had feelings for you when we were in Resembool! I thought she made you tell me that just to trick me into admitting it!" He exclaimed.

We both fell silent. Raising a brow, I looked to him incredulously. "I think that may have been part of her plan," I murmured out. I sighed, shaking my head to rid myself of the conversation. It was all just too confusing. "So… You… Feel the same?" I mumbled out nervously, refusing to look him in the eye.

He was the same. Refusing to look me in the eye, he settled on the sky. It almost made me feel better – I'd hate to be a nervous wreck in front of someone _comfortable_ about it. "…Yeah. I do," Ed finally replied. My eyes widened and I began to spin around to see him, but stopped. I couldn't look at him yet. This was too embarrassing! "I wasn't going to say anything about it cause I didn't think you felt the same way. Even when Hannah hinted at it, I couldn't bring myself to think you did. My father even said something about it. I just… You're too important to me to just throw away because of something like that. If you didn't feel the same-"

"Oh for the love of God, let's just go!" I shouted, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along the road. He looked almost shell-shocked. "I don't need a damn biography, Ed!"

I could feel him glare at the back of my head. "I'm just trying to be honest about something important, Riley!"

"You're talking about a relationship, not the creation of the world! It doesn't have to have commentary!" Ed glared up at me still and was about to retort, but I spun around and beat him to it.

He fell dead quiet. He stopped as though he _was_ dead.

I pulled away from him, looking at him blankly even though my face was on fire. "…See. That simple," I mumbled out as I turned back around and continued walking.

At least a minute passed when I finally heard his footsteps chasing after me. "R-Riley! Stop interrupting me!"

"Really, Ed? You're complaining about me _interrupting_ you?"

"Yes! It's annoyi-"

"That's such bullshit!"

* * *

I had such a hard time figuring out how he'd react. I've been planning his reaction since chapter thirty, probably even before that. Finally, about chapter thirty-five, I came up with what you just read. Well, 'came up with' probably isn't the best phrase. Ed's reaction (the 'Who told you to say that?' part) was actually a very real reaction a very real boy had in my past. This boy and Ed are similar in certain ways, so I figured, 'why not?' I hope it was okay, though. I'm not used to writing romance-related scenes. x_x

Chapter Translations!  
Forty-Three was _Chinese_.  
Forty-Four was _Ukrainian_.  
And this chapter is _Finnish_!

Be responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANK****ÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ****ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

_See how I be rockin' that German? Yeah. I'm awesome._


	46. Pedwar Deg Chwech! That's 46!

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Hyourin-kusabana:** Finally, right? XD

**Dragonjess:** Thanks! Yeah, the hardest thing for me has been trying to imply romance will keeping the story's atmosphere intact. Riley and Ed are the _last_ people who would swoon. I hope you're right about the next story! Ridiculously stressing about it. X'D

**yumiXjaganshi:** Haha, Riley would've said something along those lines if it weren't for her teenage nerves. Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing the car scene, oddly enough.

**Katsekala:** Thank you! The answer to that question is below the review' responses, since so many people asked. xD

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** -bows wisely- She has learned well. XD

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:** Thank you! 8D

**CloudEnvyKunoichi: **Really? Haha, thank you! I'm glad you think so. Yeah, I know what you mean. Writing from past experiences really gives you better insight. And honestly, I don't know if I'll go past the movie or not. It really depends on how writing the story goes. It's one of those 'We'll have to see when we get there' things. And look below the review responses for the answer to that. XD  
Thanks for the luck! I'm going to need it. And take my word for it; Don't take my advice. Really. x.x

**Songbird Alchemist:** Yes! At long last! (Tear, tear.)

**ausumist:** Thank you! It's definitely sad the story is coming to a close. It's the most fun I've had writing. (And it means I'll not longer have a story I can continuously work on anymore. x.x) Haha, I couldn't imagine going any way other than awkward. And the answer to that is below the responses!

**YaddaGirl:** I'm glad you think Ed was in character. It's hard trying to figure out how a character like him would react. XD Thank you for the encouragement! 8D

**SummoningShadows18:** Haha xD Just like them, huh? Look below the responses for that answer~

**Lani:** It's fine~ You reviewed this one. 8D  
And yes, I like Kuroshitsuji. I've only watched the first few episodes, though. And quite a while ago too. I've been meaning to get back into it. (God, I love Bard. X3)

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

**XjipunshihotaruX:** They're hilarious, aren't they? Gotta love awkward romances.

**Tazdevil:** Wow, thanks for the awesome review. I'm glad you like Riley, she's become one of my favorite characters I've created. I love coming up with their arguments. The answer to the kiss question is below the responses. A lot of people asked, so… Yeah. XD And to the height question: Someone finally noticed that! Haha, yes, she's only flaunting _one measly inch_. Trust me, to short people, that one inch is wonderful to have over someone.

**A-Prayer-4-da-Damned:** It's such an awkward romance. :B Thanks for the luck – Ima need it. But you really do not want any advice from me. I know nothing. x.x

**scaaagirl:** Isn't it? They finally did!

**Kira-Harajuku:** Haha, yes it is. It took them long enough. Thank you! I'm glad you like my writing style. Been working on it for eleven years. XD

**Adorkable93:** Look below the responses for that answer! 8D

**White CandyCane:** It does look like it, doesn't it? (Wiggles eyebrows suggestively.) And about that, it honestly depends on how the movie sequel ends. I _have_ considered writing a Brotherhood version, though! I just may do that. It depends.

**The Esper Alchemist:** Yes, finally! She plucked up the courage and _did it_.

**TallerThanThou ShorterThanThou:** Hey! Thanks for the birthday wish, haha. XD The movie definitely has its FMA-ish angst, that's for sure. Haha, I'm so behind in the manga I don't even know who _isn't_ in the manga (Well, aside from the Tringham brothers.) But the water thing is a very good idea.

**Kasuki101:** Thank you for all the awesome reviews! You made me so giddy about getting them! And I hope you're feeling better.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

F.A.Q TIME AGAIN.

_Did Riley kiss Ed?_

YES. Riley kissed him! Leave it up to Riley to do it right then so she could have the, 'just to shut you up' excuse. The reason Ed complained about her interrupting him afterward, is because he's a social idiot. Really. Doesn't know how to handle girls.

_Are you going to continue the story after the movie plot ends/write the story in the Brotherhood version?_

Whether or not I continue the story, or create another version for Brotherhood, honestly depends on two sole factors; One) how the story ends. I _love_ writing this story, I really do, but I don't want to immerse myself into another storyline for TSA if I feel I'm coming close to The Biological End (My fancy-shmancy term for when a writer no longer has a passion for the story – it means it's time to end it.) And two) if you guys still want TSA around after the movie plot ends! Both factors will be taken into consideration at the movie's end and the decision will be made then.

F.A.Q END.

Sorry for the late update, by the way. I meant to post it back in January but things have been busy around here. So I decided to squeeze this chapter out before I started getting ready for MomoCon (If you're going, look for Switzerland from Hetalia~ That's me, hurr…) Nevertheless, here's the next chapter! And I know it's short, but the next should be out soon.

On another note, I finally got my glasses. I haven't worn glasses in_ eight years_. And apparently my Astigmatism is horrible because I didn't realize my vision was as blurry as it was. I thought I could see fine. (Shifty Eyes.)

Now, (shifts glasses position on nose for the umpteenth time), let's get down to the story. I don't own FMA. I own Riley, however. Don't claim either.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Six**  
Promises

We finally arrived at the run down church, where we were to meet up with Russel, Fletcher and Hannah. Ed and I had been bickering the _entire time_. I opened the doors as I glared at him from over my shoulder. "I have a problem with it, Riley! I was trying to tell you something important and you kept interrupt-"

"Well if you keep complaining about it, I'm shoving my confession right up your ass and you can forget about telling me anything!" I exclaimed, turning to glare down at him.

Ed was about to speak but was interrupted by Hannah. "Ed? Riley?" We both looked over to see her and the brothers watching us. Russel seemed amused, but the other two were just worried we'd start fist fighting.

"Sorry," I muttered, blushing.

Ed began to look around at the building. "So this is the place?" He asked.

Fletcher nodded, "Yeah, this is it."

"Let me see that letter again, would you?" Ed asked. Grabbing the paper, Fletcher handed it to him.

He began to go over the paper as Hannah made her way toward me. Smirking slyly, she nudged me in the side. "So what's with you and Ed?"

"W-What are you talking about?" I mustered out, rubbing my side as I looked away. Damn her. This was all her fault!

Snickering, she looking at me coyly. "I know you, Riley. You confessed, didn't you?" She mused out. When she saw me blushing, her smirk grew bigger. "You did! And I take it he said he felt the same?"

I snorted. "He practically gave a speech."

"That's cute," Hannah said, giggling a bit as she covered her mouth to hide them.

Giving a small huff, I shook my head at her. "It's annoying."

She rolled her eyes at me and I began to look around the church. The building was dusty, and looked as though no one had been in there in a while. Large columns stood on either side of us, and were covered in cracks. Behind them were stained glass windows. I let out a small sigh at the sight. I hadn't been in a church in a long time… "I'm going alone." Wait, what? He wasn't thinking of leaving me with Hannah, was he? That idiot couldn't have been! He needed me there.

"You mean you're going alone, with me?" I remarked, spinning around to raise a brow at him.

Ed turned to look at me with dull eyes. "I thought you were caught up in conversation with Hannah," He grumbled out. But I didn't respond as I glared at him. There was no way in hell he thought he could leave me there. Sighing, he shook his head as he gave in. "Damn it, Riley, let's go."

As he turned and transmuted a walkway, I burst into a wide grin and reached the three. We began to enter the walkway, but Russel stopped us. "Edward." We turned and looked back to his frown. "I just want to be clear about something. I didn't tell you all this so you could create the stone," He said, his implications clear.

The serious look on Ed's face remained intact. "Trust me, Russel. That's the last thing I would ever plan on doing," Was his reassuring response.

He turned and continued walking, but I stayed back a few more seconds. Giving a small grin to the three left behind, I nodded. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." I knew they didn't believe me, and I didn't even believe myself, but it gave a momentary relief that we all needed. Turning on my heel, I followed my little blond friend down the hall.

It was silent as we ventured further below ground, and our footsteps were echoing off the walls. A sound that could drive you crazy. I glanced to Ed and saw him staring straight ahead. He looked so serious, so _ready_ for what he was about to face. "…Ed?" I asked, intending to sound a lot louder than the whisper I did manage.

Blinking out of his trance-like state, he glanced at me from the side of his eye. When eye contact was made, his expression softened and he offered me a small smile. "What is it?" The tone of his voice surprised me. He sounded _soft_, tender. Almost like a mother comforting her child. Upon this realization, my feet stopped working. His smile vanished as he followed my action and turned to face me. I looked to the ground as I thought over my next words. He, Edward Elric, was comforting me. I wasn't a wreck that demanded his comfort (like last time, but let's not mention that night), nor was I in tears. Yet he knew I needed it.

The most socially oblivious boy in the world, knew I needed comfort.

And the only way he could have known without me on my stomach bawling, was that he too felt it. That overpowering feeling. Dread. He knew what he was going to face, and he was okay with it. That, in itself, gave me the motivation I needed to continue.

"Promise me something," I said calmly, looking back up to him finally. He hesitated, worried I'd ask the impossible, but nodded nonetheless. "We know what's at stake here. Don't act recklessly… Please."

He seemed a bit taken back by the request, but recovered in little time. I could see him thinking over his words, before he finally settled on a response. "Only if you promise me something also." At the sight of my nod, he continued. "If something happens to me, get Al out of there. Leave the church and don't come back."

I wanted to say no – I knew I couldn't leave him there. But in the end, the best I could do was leave with Al. Otherwise I'd probably get all of us killed. "…Alright," I replied, nodding. He grinned in satisfaction and I found ourselves walking the path once more.

. . .

Holy Hell.

What we had reached at the end of the walkway, looked like an underground lake. The walls were brick and went incredibly high up. What looked like tree roots were all over the place, as well as large broken statues. A small waterfall was farther off from us. I must have been the only one fascinated with the scene. A few minutes had passed, when I turned to look at Ed.

Who wasn't there.

"E-Ed?" I mumbled out before taking off in the only direction he could have gone. Running down another set of stairs, I found myself on a platform-like cliff. Ed stood a few feet ahead of me, so I walked over. "You could've said you were leav…ing…," I trailed off as I noticed what was in front of us. Several houses stood side by side, and around other larger buildings and pathways. The houses looked clean, but old and abandoned. Before us, was a forgotten city.

Shocked, Ed was quiet at first as it all sunk in. His eyes were widened and I noticed him even shaking slightly. "This entire place… Was sacrificed for the Philosopher's Stone," He muttered out as it all began working in his head, "Using alchemy, the city was pulled underground to leave nothing behind but a rumor to feed the curious. Only monsters… Could come up with such a plan." Before I could really register the story myself, he gritted his teeth together in anger and stepped forward. "Are you in here, Dad? You did this! You came up with the whole plan, didn't you? Tell me!"

I glanced around before noticing a side path, which led us to the ground below. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I pointed to it once he turned to look at me. He let out a deep sigh, still upset, and began walking down the path. Wordlessly, I followed him. Honestly, I didn't know what to say to ease the tension. Especially considering I kinda liked Ed's dad. That just made any words I could say to him, awkward.

I came back into reality when my ears picked something faint up. "Music…?" I mumbled out, looking in its direction. Ed glanced back at me when he heard me, and looked off in the same area as me. His eyes settled on a huge building – a church, probably. Always churches…

We approached the building and Ed placed his hands on the door knobs. He opened the doors, and the music was suddenly much louder. The room looked like a ballroom of sorts, with marble flooring and ceiling, and tall columns. There were balconies on both sides of us, and a large stage at the end of the long room. Almost everything looked golden, save for the red stage curtains Ed stepped into the building and I began to follow, but the doors slammed shut in between us.

"Ed!" I exclaimed, slamming my hands onto the door. I could hear his muffled reply as he tried to open the doors from his side, but they just barely budged. Banging them in one last vain attempt, I grunted in annoyance before looking around. "Just – just go ahead, I'll find another way in," I said loudly, leaning toward them so he could hear me clearer.

There was a small pause, before he came back with, "Be careful."

I heard his footsteps get fainter, so I turned and began looking for another way in. There wasn't much to work with. A small porch sat in front of the doors, with stone columns on each side. Windows lined the building and I knew that would be an option if I ran out of others. I could have transmuted the door, of course, but I decided against it. Who knew what was on the other side. They could have been waiting for us to arrive and if that was the case, they already had a good idea about what I'd do to get in. Transmuting the doors could possibly get us all killed.

Walking to the edge, I stepped off the porch and made my way to the nearest window. Placing my hands on the bar, I began to push the window. It didn't budge. "Damn it, what's it going to take to get in-"

"Where's Lust?" I fell quiet upon hearing the shout, and turned to see a large black blur headed toward me. My eyes widened before jumping out of the way, stumbling back a bit. The blur stopped beside the window and I was finally able to tell it was Gluttony.

He didn't give me a chance to say anything, charging at me once more. "W-Wait a minute!" But he ignored my protests. I dodged to his side where I planned on making a run for the other side of the building. He swung his arm around at me and slammed it into my back. Letting out a grunt from the impact, I stumbled over as I tried catching my footing. I turned around on my heel and saw him lunge at me, his mouth open and ready to bite down on something.

But I still wanted my limbs. I looked around for an idea when I finally noticed the weight of the camera around my neck. Grabbing its strap, I yanked it off my neck and swung it toward him. The camera flew directly into his mouth. Before he could let go, I yanked it in the opposite direction, pulling him toward to the ground. Once he landed, I let go of it and backed away quickly. "Lust is gone," I panted out, trying to be as calm as I could, "She died trying to help Ed."

Gluttony's eyes widened as he came to his feet. "Lust is… Gone?" He whispered out. I almost felt bad for him as he began shaking his head in frantic motion. "No! She can't be! Lust!" He yelled out, rushing past and busting the doors to the building down. I twitched a bit at how easy he made it look, but I took the opportunity without a complaint. Running into the building, I skidded to a stop at what I saw.

A large transmutation circle was written into the ground in the middle of the room. It wasn't one I had seen before. To the side of the circle, stood a girl with tanned skin and long brown hair, with bangs tinted a pink color. She wore a long white dress, and held a baby in her hands. Beside her was "Lyra".

And Ed was missing.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**


	47. Sebgħa U Erbgħin! That's 47!

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

Well, this has been one hell of a time. MomoCon was exhausting (fun nonetheless), not to mention the whole 'let's plan my future!' thing I've been going through.

And am I the only one whose blood boils at the sight of Dexter? The television show and the character on it, Dexter. It's weird but every time I see him, I start raging. I'm not putting down the show by any means – I _can't_ watch the show because that guy just pisses me off so much. My mom thinks it's funny. I think it's scary.

On another note, I've discovered that I can't watch FMA Brotherhood. Why? Because every minute of it, I'm finding new ways to start a third TSA sequel. In fact, I started writing one. And I'm loving it, too. This pains me. (Despite saying I can't watch it, I'm actually watching it as I write this chapter. Sigh. (And I have the urge to create a FB profile for Riley. DAMN MY FRIENDS DOING IT FOR THEIR OCS!))

Oh, and on another 'nother note, if you type in 'The Sulfur A' in Google, your search gets auto-completed! 8D (Which means enough people have searched for my story on Google for Google to put it in the auto-complete engine! WHICH MEANS YOU'RE ALL MY BITCHE- AWESOME.)

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**CloudEnvyKunoichi:** I totally won't be doing anything crazy like that! Of course not… (Whistling Innocently) Oh really? What convention is it? I hope you had fun! I've met Travis twice before and the last time, I made a joke about my friend in NZ giving him more Marmite. Next time you meet him you should make that joke to him. Watch him wince. Hurrhurr… (Giggling)

**Lani:** I'm a sucker for pyros (maybe why Kimblee and Scar are my two favorite FMA characters 8D). Finnie's awesome, too! He's adorable.  
Yes, by all means, watch it again. I've seen FMA so many times by now. I've written FMA stories in the past and always watch them over (twice) when I write one. I've probably seen the entire series six times…  
Oh, and really? Well I am going to be writing a sequel to Shamballa, regardless of any other sequel I may write! I've actually started on Brotherhood, but I don't know if I'll actually post it or not.

**Dragonjess:** Yay! Thank you for noticing that! I wanted to make sure there was a bit of a shift in personality there but wasn't sure if I made it too subtle or not enough.  
Haha, that's always been my motto.  
(Smirks manically at being called 'Captain')

**yumixjaganshi:** And I think you may be right! It's dreadful, isn't it?  
HE MUST. HE HAS TO. FOR JUSTICE.  
And that's refreshing to hear. I know long stories can bore some people.

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD:** Who knew they could be so sweet, eh? XD

**SuperNekofan:** AHAHAHAHA! Indeed, I am! I am here on this Earth solely to make readers writhe in pain!

**Katsekala:** It seems like everybody has the feeling Envy's gonna pop up somewhere at some point in the story! x'D Someone's gonna be popping up but it isn't Envy this time.

**XjipunshihotaruX:** IT'S NOT EQUIVALENT AT ALL! DX  
Haha, "only". It's the most I've ever written. And then there'll be the sequel! But I'll miss it too. I've never had so much fun.

**YaddaGirl:** Legasp!  
Yes. Hang there on that cliff a little while longer because it's no difference this time around. XP

**ausumist:** The arguments are so much fun to write. And I'm glad you like the story! It's important to me that it feels like the original series, so that's great to hear.  
Finally! Be happy!

**Alldumbamericanrejects27:** Thank you for the reviews! And your name's Riley? That's awesome, haha.

**Timexgone23:** Ahh, thank you!  
That's understandable. All of march, I was taking a break (hence the long wait for this chapter). Sometimes you just need to step back for a while.

**The Esper Alchemist:** Haha! Really? At least you _did_ notice, even if it did take time. I just don't know the manga well enough.

**Kiki and Emily:** (Cackles) Ohohohoho… Neither can I.

**AiTachibana:** Thank you! I'm glad you think so!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha**…

I guess I should start trying to come up with a new story soon. Dx It'll probably be FMA. Again. Hehe…  
Now, sorry for the length. Originally I was going to spread out the fight into a much longer chapter but I didn't want it to get boring. And I'm struggling to make sure I have enough for fifty chapters as it is!

I don't own FMA. I don't own Ed, Envy, Al, Lyra, Gluttony, Rose, and that baby. Whatever the hell his name is. However, I _do_ own Riley and Blackburn. And Blackburn's arm. (Spoiler aleeerrrt.)

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Seven:  
**_A Revenge So Sweet_

There was a tense silence among us in the ballroom. Lyra smirked at me, her eyes smug from under her black bangs while I maintained a hard glare. The girl beside her tried comforting the baby in her arms, but I ignored it at the moment. "Where's Ed?" I shouted across the room. It echoed its way to them, and Lyra's smirk only widened.

"It's simple, girl. He's gone," She stated casually.

My eyes went wide. He… He couldn't have…

I didn't react. Not in a noticeable way at least. My knees shook under the pressure and I was still processing her words. Doors to the side of us slammed opened and I jumped, being brought of my shock. That's all there was. _Shock_.

When I looked to the doors, that didn't change. Al was hung over Envy's shoulder. Envy was quick to notice me, and only smirked. Probably thinking how pathetic I was. He walked toward his companions and I glared at him. "Get away from Al!" I exclaimed angrily.

I could see said boy shift when he heard my voice. "R-Riley?" Envy snorted in response and reached the circle. I didn't know what the circle was exactly, but I knew I had to get Al away from it. He was the only one left. And I made a promise. I ran forward to attack Envy, but a familiar man slid in my way.

Skidding to a sharp stop, I stared at him with surprise and hate.

"Move out of my way, Blackburn."

A smirk found its way to his lips. "Now, are you really in a position to order me around?" He spat out as his smirk faded into a deep glare. His look held pure hatred for me, which only fueled my fire. He betrayed my family – and _he_ was full of hatred? Bastard…

"I'm going to say it one more time," I demanded with a firm tone. I felt my shoulders ease subconsciously – my arms hung at my side. Suddenly, this feeling of calmness rushed over me. I was still pissed, yes, but… I didn't feel frantic about it. Which only made me more confident. "Move out of my way, Blackburn," I growled out.

"Someone seems to be getting cocky." Glancing over to Envy, I scowled at him. Al still hung over his shoulder as he watched us with interest.

Sighing, Lyra shook her heard at the boy. "Envy, put Al in the circle already. Stop wasting time."

When I saw Envy start to move, I made a mad dash for him. Just as I reached him, Blackburn shoved his arm into my stomach and flipped me onto my back. I fell to the ground as I coughed, gripping my aching stomach. He smirked down at me, but I twisted my leg around, kicking his own. He stumbled forward at the impact but caught himself by shifting his weight so he would fall toward me. His opened hand came down toward my face. I rolled over to avoid it and climbed back to my feet to go after Envy again. I ran as fast as I could but it didn't feel like it was fast enough.

And it wasn't.

With one careless toss, Envy had thrown Al into the circle. My eyes widened at the sight. "Al!" I exclaimed, just as Al shouted my name. The instant Al landed, the circle around him began glowing a bright blue.

Hearing a swift movement from behind, I spun around to see Blackburn's hand approaching me. I dodged to his side so he spun on his heel and swung at me again. I gripped his forearm and shoved it out of the way, only having to grab his other arm as well when he aimed his free hand for my neck. We were in a grip lock as we glared each other down. He struggled to free himself from me, but I wouldn't let it happen. I rose my foot and slammed it into his stomach. As he grunted and keeled over slightly, I used his stomach to propel myself into the air. I threw my free foot up and it crashed into his face.

Blackburn fell back and I balanced myself on my hand so I could land on my feet. Standing upright, I caught sight of him rolling backwards. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he sprung up. I let out a sigh of irritation – did I really have to fight this man? My hand fell to a rest on my right arm – the arm he once tried to destroy. Clenching my fist around it, my gaze on Blackburn turned to a glare.

There was a pause of silence between the two of us, before we braced ourselves and charged. We both pulled our fists back and swung. Our fists collided with each other and I pulled away quickly. Ducking under his arm, I leaped forward and aimed for his stomach. He grabbed the back of my shirt before I could reach him and threw me to the side. I fell to my knees but sprang back up to dodge his kick.

Ducking down, I missed his leg and slammed my hands onto the floor. The ground exploded, sending a shock wave through my body and throwing Blackburn away. He stopped flying when he hit a pillar, and slid down. The dust died, allowing me to see him standing with blood dripping from his head and mouth. Raising his hand, Blackburn smeared blood onto his palm. The blood glowed a light blue before extending and hardening into a blade.

He ran at me again and I made sure to keep my hands open so I could use my alchemy. He lunged the blade forward and I side-stepped, getting a mere graze on the cheek. This went on for several minutes. By the time his energy lowered, I had grazes along my arms and face. Standing apart from one another, we both panted. "Tired already?" I cracked, smirking over at him. But apparently he didn't find it funny. Taking off, he ran at me and charged his blade one more time.

I held my hands out and dodged just enough so I could grab the blade. I pulled him forward so I could make sure I had enough of a grasp, and blew up the blade. It shattered into a million pieces, which Blackburn fell into and was cut himself.

His side was then turned to me so he began to spin back around on his heel, his arm raised to attack. Preparing for my next move, I grabbed his arm and lunged myself over it. As I flew in the air, I made eye contact with Blackburn – who was surprised at what I had done. Suspended in the air, I twist my foot around and connected it to the side of his head. He was blown back, but grabbed my ankle, taking me with him.

Blackburn landed harshly on his back and I landed a little behind him, only to roll due to the momentum I had gained.

I began to stand up, only to have his fist slam into my cheek. As I fell to my side, he grabbed my collar and slammed me into the ground. I slid my arms in between his to hit them and loosen his grip but he released his grasp first. He punched my stomach and made me lose my concentration. As I did, he punched me in my face again. My head fell to the side at this, before he placed his hands around my neck.

I flinched, growling when he tightened his hold. No matter how I tried pulling his hand off me, he was strong enough to not be moved. My neck began to sting and go numb. Eyes widened, I grabbed his arm in desperate attempts to stop him. But he remained unfazed. There was only one way I could release myself. Clenching my fist around his arm, I glared up at him as my hand began to heat up. Blackburn was too focused to notice.

The explosion sent blood splatters all over my face and torso.

Blackburn let out a yell of pain as he stumbled backwards. My eyes were widened as I slowly sat up. I glanced down to my bloody hands, still trying to process what I had done. When I looked up and saw Blackburn holding his shoulder, blood dripping from where his arm used to be, I stumbled back to my feet. Panting as I stared across the floor at him, my eyes narrowed. "Try using that hand now," I grunted out, my voice a bit hoarse from being choked. I ran at him, throwing my fist in the direction of his face. He grabbed my fist in defense. Shifting my weight, I swung my other fist at him.

His next move was suddenly at a much quicker pace than he had originally been fighting. It was if he was stepping up his game. He kicked my arm into the air and once it was knocked away, he moved his hand forward and grabbed both my wrists, pulling them high into the air. My eyes went wide at this, and a wide smirk appeared on his lips. "You forget I was trained at the Mauler Dojo as well," He said before crashing his foot into my stomach. I groaned at the impact. He did it once more and I coughed, blood dripping from the corner of my mouth. Moving his leg, he kicked my side and let go of my hands, causing me to fly out onto the ground.

As I tried to climb up to my knees, he smirked as he walked toward me. His foot crushed down on my back, pushing me down to the ground. "Pain was the first thing we were taught, was it not? Pain makes you stronger. Pain is nothing but incentive to win the fight. That was what we were taught, was it not? You may have been their child, but that's all you were. I am the true face of the Maulers' technique!"

Flipping over, I threw his foot off my back and jumped straight up, my fist in the air above me. He didn't have time to avoid me. His chin was hit and as he fell back, I rammed in my shoulder into his stomach (talk about Deja Vu…) and tackled him to the ground. I punched him in the nose before grabbing his collar and yanking him toward me. "You know nothing about the Maulers' technique! Survive and protect! **That** was the first lesson they've always taught! You only learned to fight, you know nothing about being a Rebellion fighter!" I screamed, my face contorted into anger.

He began to chuckle and my glare intensified at this. Before I could react, I felt a strong grip on my hair. I yelled as he swung me off of him, slamming my head into the ground. The impact made me dizzy and as I began fighting consciousness, he raised me into the air and shoved his fist into my stomach again. I began to lean over from the pain but held me in a standing position. He pushed me back and pressed me against a pillar in the ballroom by my neck. "That may have been their morals but I never was one for putting my life on the line for other people," He tightened his grip and continued, "After all, just look around. It's simple logic. I left those traditionalist values behind and I'm still breathing. Unlike your parents… Giving up their life for a pathetic Ishballin man, who wound up dying anyway."

The images of Scar flashed in my mind and I snapped.

"Then die by the technique of that _pathetic_ Ishballin man," I growled out before clenching my hand over his face.

* * *

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; this story will be ending very soon. I plan on chapter fifty being the last chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline,**which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**


	48. چهل و هشت! That's 48!

H-Hi everyone! Sorry about not updating. I haven't even looked at my TSA file in weeks. Just in a rut, I guess. OTL I had no idea it's been two months since I updated. But I'm going on a trip soon and decided to get this chapter out there before that!

Also, I'm using LibreOffice as I write this… What's the difference to OpenOffice? Not a damn thing. xC

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Dragonjess:** Haha, got to love the ninja skills! I think it's awesome you dance when there's another chapter. It's just… Awesome.

**Alldumbamericanrejects27:** You bet your ass it will be. 8D

**CloudEnvyKunoichi:** Yay, I'm glad! I rather enjoy writing action scenes but I'm worried about them being boring. I'm also glad you got to meet Travis (assuming you did, I mean)! Haha, watching people wince is wonderful.  
And thanks, I had a lot of fun at Momo.

**Katsekala:** Ah man, now I wish I made her say, 'Hasta la Vista, baby!' XD

**fmagurl123:** That would be cool if he did, but I'm afraid not, haha. And yay, top five!

**AuroralDust:** Firstly, thank you for the epic review. x3  
The matter of Riley being a copycat was something that was on my mind from the very beginning because I myself have seen so much of it in other stories, so I love hearing that she's a good character. XD (And thanks for the compliment about Ed! I really have fun writing him.)  
If you want to review every chapter, by all means, be my guest! Getting reviews makes my entire day (and ones as awesome as this make my week).

**SummoningShadows18:** Haha, I'm glad I could help with the FMA craze!

**Ausumist:** I wasn't very pleased with the length of it, but I have this OCD-ish obsession with ending at chapter fifty, haha. I love how you thought out Riley's reaction though – it's not very often I hear that someone has. Making Riley look badass is awesome (and I'm curious about what I'll do too! Hurr…)

**HelloToGoodbye:** Thank you! I haven't read most of the manga yet so I had to write the anime version (which I've seen five times… xD) I haven't applied to colleges yet (I haven't finished high school yet), but I plan on applying to a few in Florida next year. (Yay for Wildlife Ecology! 8D)  
And I am still ferret-less unfortunately.

**2lazy2signin:** Raw-ass cliffies are my favorite!

**CandyCayne:** To be honest, I haven't planned on writing Brotherhood. That being said, there is a TSA Brotherhood version saved on my files I've started spur of the moment. If I do post it or continue writing it, Riley will not be changed herself. Her background will remain the same but maybe more explained or detailed. The events with Riley and Ed will be different of course, and I'm positive that Hannah will be another character entirely (because I've grown a slight dislike of her.)  
Now about it being Roy or Al or whomever with the OC. If I were to do that, it wouldn't be The Sulfur Alchemist. It would be another story entirely. I'm not saying I _won't_ write another FMA story, because I am planning on another one, but I could do both, you see? A TSA version of Brotherhood and then another story entirely. But nothing's in stone yet because I still have to finish up this story's sequel (and I'm planning on an Assassin's Creed story). XD

**Mizunou:** LAWL, yes, Ed got lost as soon as he entered the building. If I wasn't following the anime storyline, that's exactly what I would've written. XD The Mauler mauls the Blackburn… By burning him. (OH YES I JUST WENT THERE.)

**Kiki Loves You:** 8D I'm so happy I'm the fourth!

**Angelofmusic7991:** Haha, thank you! I'm glad I made someone awesome.

**Disgaea Fangirl Zara:** Blackburn is most definitely going down! Unfortunately not by Ed, however. XD

**In-A-World-Of-Black-And-White:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it. More romance will be in this story's sequel – since this first part is almost over and I don't really have the space to add romance, haha. But the sequel will definitely have more.

**XjipushiHatarux:** That is such a sad fact for Riley. I'm glad you like the fighting scenes! And even more glad you like the spoiler alert (because I had no idea any of you even read those disclaimers. XD)

**Kira-Harajuku:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**AnimeVamp1997:** Ahahahaha! Everyone seems to love that line. That's freaking awesome. Even more awesome that I got you sucked in (Insert Evil Yet Dorky Laugh Here)!

**Shiinku:** In fact, I remember you actually. XD How are you liking Brotherhood? I still haven't watched many episodes myself, though I've been meaning to finish the first season for a while now.  
Anyhow, I'm glad you still like the story!

**LALALANDROX:** Believe it or not, I'm not! They are all actual languages. xD And thanks!

**Kasuki101:** Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like the battle scenes. I like to write them when I get the chance to. (And I love the new nickname; Chaos-Sensei. 8D)

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

So… Many… Reviews… I freaking love you.

And now I'm watching Tobuscus' Amnesia gameplay for a second time as I finish up this chapter (Because I finished the Dead Space 2 gameplay halfway through~) Yay for multi-tasking!

So I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I own Riley, but she's currently trying to write a Declaration of Independence about that. Least I still have… The… Body of Blackburn-Oh God that sounds creepy. I don't own FMA, alright? OTL

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Eight:  
**_Mauler mauled Blackburn_… _By burning him._

Surprised eyes were resting on me. The cold of the pillar I sat against pressed on my back. Blood was everywhere.

What… What happened?

"_Then die by the technique of that pathetic Ishballin man," I growled out before clenching my hand over his face._

_Blackburn's eyes widened, but there was no time to leave. Blood shot out from his head in several places. There was a split moment of stillness before he collapsed backward. Without his hand around my neck, I fell to the ground on my butt and elbows. I sat up at a slow pace as blood pooled around Blackburn's body – and mine._

My eyes shakily found their way onto my bloodied hands. "Beginning the process of transmutation… And then stopping at the second step… Deconstruction," I whispered under my breath as I recalled Scar's moves. And what I had just done. I didn't have time to use my sulfur. It requires heating up. Time.

I… I killed him. I killed Radley Blackburn.

My hands began to shake at the realization. Clapping caused me to jump back into reality, and the brash voice of Envy spoke. "Bravo, kid!"

With my mind once more in reality, I gasped slightly. "Al!" I scrambled to my feet (clumsily, only gaining more blood stains on my arms, legs and clothes) and leaned on the pillar to keep standing. Looking over, I could see Al still in the circle. Gluttony was headed toward him, foaming and drooling at the mouth.

'Lyra' had smirked at the tan skinned girl, who stood there blankly as she held her baby. "Soon, Rose, you will surrender yourself to me," Lyra remarked, her arms crossed over her chest. She turned her gaze and noticed something from the corner of her eye that made her scowl. "Envy!" Hearing her warning, Envy glanced over his shoulder to see Wrath running toward them. "Make sure he doesn't use alchemy!" She ordered, taking the baby from Rose.

Running toward him, Envy wrapped an arm around Wrath's neck, struggling to stop his moments. "Stop squirming!"

"Bring her back!" Wrath screamed, his eyes wide and his voice laced with panic. "Bring Mommy back to life! Please!"

Lyra closed her eyes and raised the baby above her head. A transmutation began to glow on the baby's stomach. Before I could try to see the circle and understand what would be happening, a large gray, stone set of doors rose from the ground. The frame of the door was designed with the stone statues of bodies. My eyes widened – was _that_ the Gate?

Jumping away from him, Envy watched with equal surprise. The large doors slowly opened and long black arms, shot out of the doors. They worked in a synchronized fashion, wrapping around Wrath's limbs and torso. All I could make out were his screams as these creatures pulled away. Once they had gone back behind the doors, Wrath was left on the floor with Ed's limbs gone, sobbing to himself as his body shook.

"What a terrible child," Lyra smirked, "Bursting in like the entire universe revolves around him; not even realizing one false move could activate the Philosopher's Stone before it's reached its full potential. He should be grateful I've allowed him to live as long as I have."

Envy was paying little attention to this. His eyes wide, he began to stumble back. "Master!" Lyra looked toward him, now alert. "The gate!" He exclaimed, pointing up at it with a shaking hand. "It's still here!" My own eyes widened; what was going on? The doors began to inch open. I could hear faint grunts from behind them, as though someone was pushing them open with sheer force.

When a familiar blond head peeked out from behind the doors, I almost lost my balance.

Giving one last push on the doors, Ed came stumbling out of them as he let out a yell. He landed on the ground with a thud and Al looked up to see what was going on. He gasped at the sight. Ed climbed his way to his knees and looked up. He pressed his weight onto his hands before looking down at them in recognition. "My automail?… I'm really here? But does that mean the other Ed had to die? His life… Traded for mine?"

"Brother?"

Ed looked up when he heard the voice. "Alphonse…?" His eyes gazed over Al, and then he noticed me as well. His eyes widened; whether it was at all the blood or just the situation we were all in, I wasn't sure. "…R-Riley?"

"Quite an amazing feat, Edward." The boy looked up when he heard a familiar voice, and saw Marcoh standing there.

"Dr. Marcoh… I never did find out where you went," Ed murmured out. He seemed to still be in shock.

Envy transformed again, this time into Hughes. I was angry at this, but I had already exhausted myself physically and emotionally. Ed's brows furrowed though, realizing it was just Envy. "Sure you did, Ed," Envy started, "After all… You were the one who found the ole doc and just waved goodbye as he went into the Furher's custody – now that was a great idea. The poor man ended up in that thing's stomach." He motioned to Gluttony and I felt my fists tightening up – this guy really pissed me off… Ed gave a light gasp in response and Envy added, "Wouldn't have died if you hadn't tracked him down…"

He lifted his hands and blades slipped up to his fingers. "Of course you were bad luck for a lot of us, weren't you?" He threw the blades at Ed, who stood and dodged them all easily. "I would still be with my wife and little girl if I hadn't met you. Must be tough, Ed, fighting someone you already killed once!" He exclaimed before charging. The two kept up with this game for a while – Ed dodging Envy's throws.

Finally, though, Ed swept around him and wrapped his arm around Envy's neck. Envy fell to his knees, holding onto Ed's arm quite helplessly. Envy muttered out words as Ed asked, "Is that all you've got? Impersonations with guilt trips attached? Have you forgotten Sloth? I killed her while she wore the face of my own mother…"

"Really?" Envy asked as a transformation occurred once more. 'Maes' no longer stood there; now it was Sloth. "That must have been hard for you," 'She' soothed out, turning her head to look at Ed. Envy slammed his elbow into Ed's stomach. Ed stumbled back as Envy jumped forward and transformed back into his usual appearance. "Not as tough as you thought, are you?" He mused, turning around.

Glaring across the floor at Envy, Ed raised his hands and slammed them together. It was then I took note of how close they were to Al. I wasn't able to say anything before 'Lyra' did. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Edward."

"Like I'd listen to you," Ed spat out.

When I saw him make movements to transmute, I stepped forward slightly. "Wait a minute!"

Ed seemed to have jerked back into reality, glancing toward me. Everything was interrupted by Envy's laughter. Hands on his hips, he smirked toward Ed. "Listen to your girlfriend over there, pipsqueak."

I paused at this, but eventually continued. "Something might happen to Al if you transmute near him!"

Ed looked toward Al with a look of distress on his face. He almost looked bad about not realizing it sooner. Smirking, Envy sneaked toward Ed's side and hissed, "Let's find out." He kicked Ed in the stomach, causing him to fall back. Ed quickly caught his balance and punched at Envy, who bent back to dodge it. Envy's foot crashed into Ed's face, throwing him onto the ground.

As he got up, Ed shouted, "You're going to pay for that!"

He punched again, but it was once again dodged. "Keep trying Ed," Envy smirked out, flipping back several times, "I'm much stronger than you!" The second he landed, a hand grabbed his foot. I was surprised when I saw Wrath laying there, glaring up at Envy. Growling, Envy lifted his foot and began stomping on Wrath's back in an effort to loosen Wrath's grip. Ed tackled him in the process of this and the two were sent to the ground. Now with the advantage, Ed began to punch Envy. With every punch, Envy would change face.

First it was Sloth. "Don't hurt me, Edward!"

"Don't mess with me!"

Then it was Marcoh. "Edward, please stop it!"

Maes. "Calm down-!"

And then Roy. "Give up, Kid! You don't have what it takes to kill me!"

Ed paused with a blank look. It was soon replaced with a smirk. "I don't think you could have picked an easier target!" He punched Envy, continuing. "Show me what you really look like! Instead of being a coward that only hides behind other people's faces!"

He continued punching Envy, who began to smirk. Suddenly I felt the pit in my stomach worsen. His smirk was… Unsettling, for some reason. "You really want to see?"

Ed lifted his fist high into the air. "STOP JERKING ME AROUND!"

"You asked for it!"

Envy made one last transformation. My eyes widened at what I saw. 'Lyra' smirked, while Ed appeared even more shocked than me. With blond hair and amber eyes, he was the classic image of an Elric. "You're… His son," Ed whispered out in shock.

"Envy was the first homunculus; created by Hohenheim almost four hundred years ago. A result of the failed human transmutation of our son, who died prematurely of mercury poisoning. I suppose you could say that Envy was once your brother," 'Lyra' explained, rather smugly might I add.

"But then he abandoned me. Started fresh with his perfect wife and kids… Needless to say, I never did like being replaced," Envy commented. The next few seconds went by in a hectic mess – they're blurred memories, but still so fresh in the mind.

In one split second, he had shoved an arrowed hand through Ed's stomach.

I was silent. I wanted to scream, but not so much as a whisper would come out. Even as Rose snapped out of whatever trance she was in and screamed Ed's name, I remained unable to make a sound. Wind ran through my hair as I fell and the marble floor smacked hard against my knees, leaving a string to trail through my legs. I could hear Al shouting and Wrath shaking, but it all did nothing. I could hear Envy's laughter.

And then I snapped.

* * *

Chapter Translations! 8D

Chapter Forty-Six was _Welsh_.  
Chapter Forty-Seven was _Maltese_.  
And this chapter is _Persian_!  
If any translation is wrong, feel free to let me know. I only know English, German and Japanese numbers - all the others are sourced from Google or Bing.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr_.


	49. Четириесет и девет! That's 49!

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; the next chapter will be the _last_ chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

Guys! Guys! I'm not dead!

You… Didn't think I was dead? Well then. I do apologize for the _long_ wait, though. I had an awful writer's block, family issues, and just life in general. Plus, I'm working on a few new fanfictions (Dragon Age, gah) and a book! If any of you've checked out my FictionPress, expect a chapter or two of _Faint_ to show up within the upcoming weeks. Or if you're a fan of Dragon Age, expect one of my new fanfics, _Following Footsteps_, to be posted soon. Heh, would you believe I just came up with that title? You would?… You people know me too well.

Oh, and my eighteenth birthday passed. According to a surprising amount of people I know, "Dude, you can go to raves now!" (_Why am I friends with these people_?)

**Anyway, I need your opinions! First: **What would you prefer in the sequel – first (I, my, we) or third (she, her, they) point of view?

**Second:** I do this for all my stories when they reach the end and, while it usually isn't successful, I decided to give it another go. If you have a favorite moment in this story, maybe a certain fight or conversation or whatnot; tell me what it is in the review! I'll be using all of your (or, if it's successful for this story, most of your) favorite moments in the last chapter!

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** Envy's pretty much the douche of FMA. Lawl, Riley's most definitely pissed.

**KikiLovesYou:** Mwaha, just call me Queen of Suspense. Thanks guys! I'm glad you like it! 8D

**Ausumist:** I giggled at the mental visualization of you repeating that over and over. And thanks for the awesome review! Seeing through the main character's eyes is the very reason I love writing in first point of view, so I'm glad that you enjoy it!

**Sorami Hayashi:** Thank you! I appreciate that!

**Shiinku:** (Drools upon reading review a third time around.)  
That was also the first thing I noticed about Brotherhood – it moved so fast that I was kind of thrown off by it at first. Well, that and the different art style which I still have to get used to, lawl.  
I freaking _loved_ your comments about Blackburn. My original intention when I added Blackburn was to write him as a mixed character; someone who has been doing wrong but with such a humanity in him that you can't help but relate. As I started writing the Cycle of Blackburn, however, the plan took a turn and I wasn't able to incorporate it. (This is also one of the reasons I want to write a Brotherhood version of FMA. I want to give more of a backstory to Riley and Blackburn that I didn't do with this.)  
As far as Rose and Winry, I like Winry alright. At first, I found her a bit annoying (she's a very emotional character and I'm more of a 'Build a bridge and get over it' kind of person, haha,) but over time I understood her better and started liking her. The opposite of this can be said for Rose. I liked her in the beginning, but now she's kind of annoying to me. She can be so intense... But I'm done rambling now. Thank you for the review!

**Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: **Haha, I remember getting so pissed at Envy when I first saw it happen. It was kind of humorous, because I hadn't watched a single episode of FMA and I was just browsing through channels when all of a sudden, BAM, some blond dude gets killed. Totally ruined the surprise once I did start watching the series. And no worries, Envy gets his. Hurr...

**Katsekala:** A snapped Riley is a scary sight, my dear. Keep your hands in the car and whatever you do, _don't feed the wildlife_.

**Myboobseclipsethesun:** I UPDATED INDEED. HELL YEAH. Oh noes, I'm sorry you forgot so much. Dx

**SuperNekofan:** You should've been here when I read that review. I cackled.

**Mizunou:** That's one reason I kind of find Rose annoying, actually. When I first saw the scene, I was thinking the same thing. And ahahaha, Riley's been quite full of (herself?[shot]) badassery lately!

**Hikaru1012:** Thank you!

**The Esper Alchemist:** Oh, it's okay. But yey! To hell with Blackburn! And I don't blame you; FMA really pulls at the heart strings.

**TallerThanThou ShorterThanThou:** Hm... I don't think I have! I can't believe neither of those two came to mind. Haha, it's understandable. I'm going through some schooling stress myself. And if you haven't watched the movie yet, I highly suggest you do. The sequel is going to be lined up with that storyline and you might get confused otherwise! (Sucks, doesn't it? Anime and Manga are almost always completely different from each other.)

**Kasuki101:** HE DIED ON RILEY; CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT SHIT? Selfish brat. Riley should bring him back to just to put him beyond the Gate again. (Giggles.) Chaos-Sensei. I could really could used to that.

**Amethyst2241:** Thank you! I hope you liked the other chapters as well!

**AnimeVamp1997:** AHAHAHA. Well, you know me. Cliffhangers are practically my signature move by now.

**KarmaHope:** A day? I always love hearing when people put so much time in reading my stories. But thank you! I'm glad you think so!

**Awesometastic0:** Thank you! Riley is definitely going to throw one of her fits. xD

**XcrazyXookamiX:** First, I want to say asdfghjkl-thank you for the review. I think I grinned for a week after I read your comment about missing ThunderCats for this story. I hate that it's almost over also, but a sequel's coming next! (And maybe Brotherhood version if I want to continue.) I'm glad you like the way their relationship progressed, considering I did it quite slowly and subtle.  
And noo, I'm not responsible for any pain! (Well, any pain that Riley doesn't suffer. Of that, I am wholeheartedly to blame.)

**Jacika Slevim: **Aw, they let the flamer back out of its cage. Glad to see that this story circulated so much, it got back you, my friend! Gave me a good laugh, it did.

**Jessica (Or NINJA OF EPIC PROPORTIONS):** asdfghjkl- you guys are spoiling me with all these great comments.  
And there's no worry. Jacika and I have crossed paths quite a while ago due to this story. (And besides, she said I have an army of girls. Not taking penguins or monkeys or delicious tacos or actual men with guns into consideration, what's better than _that_? /goes back to watching Psych marathon)  
I don't think you're rambling at all! It's totally fine. I'm glad you like this story, and your comments about Riley are awesome. I love it when people put consideration into who a character is; even more so when it's one of _my_ characters. That's one of the biggest compliments a writer can receive.

**Tazdevil:** He's dead at long last! (...Only to be revived in the sequel cause he crossed over to the Gate-HURRAH.)

**Charlotte13245:** Lawl, considering I've just spent the past few weeks playing Dragon Age, I'm in no position to say what is and isn't sad. XD You know, I never even realized I always ended on a cliffhanger until everyone started mentioning it to me? I get a kick out of it, now. Thank you for the review!

**Boi San:** I have replied to you in message, but thank you again for the reviews!

**Gummy'Fish'Lover:** Haha, I won't lie, I like to have at least a handful of reviews before I post the next chapter, but it really isn't something I base the next update around. _Normally_, it takes maybe two to three weeks to finish a chapter, but these past few months have been crazy. And ahahaha, my cliffhangers of evil! Everyone despises them. I love it.

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

Oh my God, did it just take me an _hour and a half_ to reply to everyone? (Happy Tears Here.)

I don't own FMA or its original characters. Riley Mauler, though, is mine still. Her attempt at Independence fell through the cracks when she realized she would start having to pay for her own food, you see.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Nine:**  
_A Final Departure_

Edward – he was… Dead.

And Envy was _laughing_.

I could feel my fists clenching. The shock was dying away and in place of it, was anger. Fury.

Climbing to my feet, I ignored the sting in my knees. I slipped Maes' blades out; I had been holding out on using them and this was worth it. With the metal of the blades pressing between my fingers, I charged for Envy. Dante (it didn't take long for me to realize it was her after her comment about Hohenheim and Envy) narrowed her eyes when she noticed this, "Envy!"

Just as Envy turned to see what it was, he had to dodge one of my blades. His eyes widened slightly at how close the blade was to his face. Pulling my hand back, I swung my foot around. He grabbed my ankle and spun on his heel, tossing me through the air. Once the palm of my hand made contact with the ground, I flipped myself over and landed safely on my feet. Envy gave a smirk as he rested his hands on his hips. "He's dead, Kid. Get lost."

My blood boiled. How _dare_ he!

Taking off again, I used the momentum of pushing myself off the floor to come at him with greater strength. I continued to cut and slash at him relentlessly. He was blocking and dodging every one of them, but I could tell he was struggling to do so. Finally, he tripped up. Stumbling backwards, he lost his balance and I leaped at the opportunity. Lunging forward, I reached to grab him by the collar, the hair, anything that would let me get my hands on him.

Eyes widening, Envy slammed his foot onto the ground and spun, narrowly avoiding my grasp. As he skidded away from me, I landed on the ground where he once was. The instant my hands made contact with the flooring, the marble flew into the air from the impact of a small explosion. I flipped over, coming to my feet to turn and face Envy once more. Surprise that I would use alchemy so close to Al was evident on his face as he took a step backward. "Are you insane?" He muttered before exclaiming, "You'll bring the entire building down like that!"

My glare deepened at his words as my fists tightened. I knew I had made a promise to Ed – to get Al out alive. And I would do this, as soon as I killed Envy. "I'll bring the whole tunnel down before I see you walk out alive," I growled, walking toward with no hesitation.

He paused at the tone of my voice. Shaking his head, he frowned at me, "Just give it up, brat!"

I gave him no more time to talk – I raced toward him and he braced himself for impact. He held up his arms to defend his face and when my hand wrapped around it, he grabbed my wrist with his free hand. Shifting his stance, Envy threw me around him and into the ground. I bit back the yell that wanted to escape from the harsh impact, and found myself rolling a few feet before I finally came to a stop. Wincing slightly, I climbed to my knees and froze when I realized I had landed beside Ed.

…Ed's body.

My temper rose beyond its current levels and I jumped back to my feet, swinging a dagger at him. Once again, he grabbed my wrist. Twisting it behind my back, he wrapped an arm around my neck and pressed the dagger in my hand against my back. Even the slightest movement would cause me to become the victim of my own blade. "Stop fighting!" He hissed in my ear. I paused in my struggles and could almost feel him smirking in triumph. "Now be a good girl and leave."

There was a silent moment in the room as I slipped out a dagger in my free hand. "Only once you're dead," I spat back before shoving myself backwards.

I could hear Al gasp in shock. I could hear Envy whispering, "W-What?"

The dagger Envy held against me had pierced my back without resistance. "_Pain only reminds you of your goal,_" I'd muttered. Envy was pressed against my back because of my actions, and I used the proximity to swing my free hand around and stab him in the side. It was his turn to gasp, not expecting my movements. Gritting my teeth together, I glared at the ground as I said, "_Pain is only incentive to win the fight_." Pulling my hand out from his side, I spun in a complete circle, hitting him in the nose with the butt of the dagger. As he stumbled back, gripping his bloody side, I stepped backward to put some distance between us. Immense pain shot through my back and it only got worse as I yanked the dagger out of my back. I could _hear_ my blood spilling on the ground. _"Pain is strength_," I finished the mantra I'd been taught at the dojo as I threw my daggers. They pierced Envy's shoulder and I ran forward, spinning to gain momentum.

My foot slammed into his stomach and he yelled at the pressure on his wound before flying back through the air. He skidded along the marble floor, just as I had done, but he stopped against an armored foot. My eyes widened when I saw Al standing. Envy's own eyes widened as well, but he had no time to move. Grabbing a hold of him, Al's other hand slammed onto the circle he had been standing over.

"**No, Al!**"

. . .

At first, there was nothing but darkness.

Then there was nothing but a bright light.

I could hear creatures whispering, and Envy struggling, and Al yelling.

And then it all died.

Finally, I opened my eyes. There was a high ceiling above me and something about it looked oddly familiar. My brows furrowed as I tried to remember. I was on marble flooring, which felt cold under me. Or… Or maybe it was me that was cold. There was pain; so much of it, my sight began to double. For the life of me, I tried to remember. "E-Edward…?"

At the sound of Rose, it all came back. Gasping, I jerked up to a sitting position, looking around frantically as I scrambled to my feet. Al! Where was he? I saw no signs of him as my eyes landed on Rose, who crouched over Ed's body. "W-Where?" I tried to question her, but my voice only came out in cracks. She looked up at me, and I could see the tear stains on her cheeks. She shook her head, and I knew I was too late. My eyes wanted to avert to the ground in shame, but I couldn't bring myself to look at anything other than Ed. He was still unmoving and I was growing more and more afraid that I had lost them both. I couldn't handle that.

Suddenly, he began to shift. Breath caught in my throat and I tried to prepare myself for what was coming, but I knew it was useless. "Edward? Can you hear me?" Rose asked in a soft tone, looking down at him with worry.

"…Yeah," He mumbled, "…But why am I crying?" It was true. Tears ran down his face – and as much as I loved to hear his voice again, it hurt more than any dagger to the back. He moved his hand to rub them away but he, and I as well, noticed the flesh on his right arm. He paused, pulling it back to stare at it in confusion. "What…?" He murmured, sitting up.

The wait was killing me. Rose looked down as she said, "Alphonse used alchemy to bring you back, Ed… After you died."

I could tell that the next few moments of silence were him adjusting to the facts. He had to _make_ himself understand, otherwise he likely would have stayed in his state of confusion. But then it began to dawn on him. "The Philosopher's Stone… He used it to fix my body and pull my soul from the gate…," He murmured out in realization. His eyes widened as he leaned toward her with a new look of panic. "But then what happened to him?" Rose hesitated, but her eyes already told him the answer. She looked away and Ed's expression morphed into one of horror.

A lump formed in my throat and I had to choke back a sob as I finally managed to avert my gaze. "I'm… I'm so sorry…" I wanted to speak, I knew I had, and I heard myself, but it didn't feel like it. A part of me wanted to have an excuse for not keeping my word, and the other part of me hated that. Ed's gaze spun toward me and for a minute, I felt like we had gone back to the Rockbells', when they found out about Maes and Ed turned his anger toward me. As quickly as it came, it went away and he jumped to his feet, yelling for Al.

Rose's baby began to cry. I jumped and I could feel Ed do the same in front of me and he looked to the bundle in her arms with a sullen expression. Looking at him, I could tell. Reality hit him. His moment of emotional panic had died down and he took on his rational side. I'd seen him do it many times before, but none were quite so painful to watch. Ed was quiet as he walked past me. Standing, Rose watched his movements as she calmed her baby. I didn't turn to see. I could hear him searching for something. In those seconds, Rose and I caught each other's sights. The look in her eyes… Pity? Blame? I didn't know. If I did know, I didn't acknowledge that I knew. My eyes cast downward again and I let my bangs hide me from her view.

Edward came back and looked to Rose with a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. He didn't look to me, as if it would be too hard to. "You should get going. I hate to ask this, but can you take him with you?" Ed questioned, turning his sights onto Wrath who lay no more than ten feet away from us.

"…But what about you?" Rose asked, keeping her attention on him.

Turning to face the rest of the ballroom, Ed's response was simple. "I'll destroy this place down to the last plank. So no one ever gets the idea to create a Philosopher's Stone this way again."

The corner of Rose's lips twitched upward in bitter acceptance. "Very well," She murmured out, "I'm sure whatever happens, you'll find your way out. You've got strong legs. You'll get up and use them, won't you, Edward?"

Ed looked to her in surprise before smiling. He gave a light chuckle, "Yeah…" Rose finally approached Wrath and bent down, offering him her arm. He grabbed hold of her and, struggling, they made their way out. Rose turned to look back at me, but a knowing look graced her features. Nodding at me, she left with Wrath.

I did not move. I wouldn't, not then.

"…You need to leave with them, Riley."

Just as he couldn't look at me, I couldn't look at him. Keeping my eyes focused on the doors Rose and Wrath left out of, I shook my head, my jaw clenched. "No."

I could hear him sigh from behind me. "Don't fight me on this, I won't-"

Shaking my head once more, I looked over my shoulder and saw him in the corner of my eye. "I know." The words implied more than they stated. Ed was going to bring Al back. He would do nothing else regardless of what we told him, and I was in no position to tell him anything anyway. "I will leave then. But until then, I will stand _right here_." Another moment passed, before Ed's features softened. He nodded in understanding, and set to work. My shoulders dropped as soon as he turned away and I looked forward to hide my face.

. . .

The circle was done.

Its bold lines were painted and, in some places, etched along the floor and formed a large transmutation circle. Ed stood in the middle, his shirts discarded to make room for the smaller circles painting on his torso. Circles I painted on him myself – I didn't think I could, but I knew I had to. And likewise, he didn't feel comfortable at first, but he knew I had to. Ed still looked upset, but there was a more peaceful atmosphere about him. A sort of acceptance.

And silence.

"Riley." I didn't want to turn, because I knew it would mean the end. But I had to. Finally turning, I faced Ed and saw his eyes still cast to the floor. "Do you remember what I was saying to you before, after Mustang and Hawkeye dropped us off?" He asked, his tone already telling me of the deeper thoughts he was going through.

_"So… You… Feel the same?"_

_"…Yeah. I do," Ed finally replied. "I wasn't going to say anything about it cause I didn't think you felt the same way. Even when Hannah hinted at it, I couldn't bring myself to think you did. My father even said something about it. I just… You're too important to me to just throw away because of something like that. If you didn't feel the same-"_

The lump came back to my throat. Of course I remembered – how could I forget? I began to shake my head, already feeling the tears building up. "No… Please, Ed, don't…," My voice only came out as a whisper, but he heard me.

His fists clenched at his side and his shoulders hunched as he exclaimed, "Listen! I need to finish what I was going to say then!" I still wanted to refuse, but it was another one of those many things I _knew_ I had to do. No calm after the storm would come if I refused to face it. Ed looked to the side to hide his face even more from me. "Riley, you're… You're important to me. It's always just been Al and me, but… It didn't have to be that way. You taught me that. I always wanted to change my past, fix things. I felt like I gave up so much and got nothing in return… I wouldn't change any of it, now. I gave a lot, but… I met you." Finally, for the first time since he'd come back, he looked me in the eye. "Nothing I could give would have been worth that."

It took all I had to not cave in on my weakening legs. "S-Stop," I muttered, frowning as I refused to look away from him. But he ignored my protest as he neared me. I jumped when I felt his palm on my cheek. His right palm. "Please, I can't ta-"

"I love you, Riley…," His grip tightened as he frowned, "Don't forget that."

The strength in my legs finally began to give out, so I moved forward. Leaning into him, my hands found his face as my lips found his. In any other situation, he would have tensed and stood there like a dummy; or blushed and yanked away, yelling at me for being so abrupt. But then, at that moment, I felt his hand on my back and he was okay with it. I wanted him to know that my anger and my fears and my happiness were all because of him. His hand shook on my cheek. He wasn't used to feeling from that hand anymore and this was new. It was like he wanted to remember what he hadn't been able to feel all that time.

Pulling away, but only just enough, I gripped his arms. "…I love you." He smiled, if only just a little, and nodded.

I looked away before letting go, stepping backwards and turning for the door. I could hear his footsteps echo through the room as he made his way back to the middle of the circle. The door was not far away, but it sure looked like it was. My hands still trembled. The pain was overbearing. My first step forward was slow and shaky. Closing my eyes, I began to focus on the dojo's mantra as I pushed forward.

In a short but painstakingly long time, I had reached the door. My hand rested on it and I debated on looking back. Somewhere in my mind, though, I knew if I did, I'd refuse to let him do it. So I kept my gaze at the door and pushed it open. It slid to a shut behind me as I left, and I saw Rose and Wrath waiting at the bottom of the porch steps for me. They both looked up at me and there was even sympathy in Wrath's eyes.

I stepped forward and began to descend the steps, when my legs finally gave way. Collapsing in on my own body, I fell to the ground and did not bother to break my fall. Rose rushed to her knees beside me, placing a well intentioned hand on my shoulder. There were no words spoken between the three of us as she pulled me to my feet, or as I slapped on a blank face and helped Wrath stand, or as we all headed for the entrance.

Walking away was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

* * *

Oh my damn, that hurt to write. Riley's all sad and broken now. But it's not over yet!

This chapter number's language is Macedonian. If it's wrong, let me know and I'll correct it.

Be Responsible. **Don't Flame and Drive**! _Rawr__._

**ANNOUNCEMENT. ANKÜNDIGUNG.**

So to officially make this statement; the next chapter will be the _last_ chapter. Then this story will move onto the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline, **which will be posted as another story**. I repeat, **the Conqueror of Shamballa plotline will be posted as a sequel to The Sulfur Alchemist**. Don't worry about adding me to Author Alert just to find out when it will be posted – I'll be posting Chapter Fifty the same day I post The Sulfur Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. So when you get "Story Alert: The Sulfur Alchemist" in your inbox, you will know I have posted the Conqueror of Shamballa.

**END ANNOUNCEMENT. ENDE-ANKÜNDIGUNG.**


	50. Chapter Fifty

Hey guys! This is the last chapter. **For those not paying ****attention**, this means that the sequel is POSTED.

Four years ago today, I wrote a random-ass chapter of FullMetal Alchemist on the FF Text Editor, and Riley Mauler was born. I could get extra-cheesy on you guys, but I think I'll wait until the last chapter of the sequel. Don't want to get too sad just yet.

And just because it makes me feel better, I'm going to complain about my cosplay sister (that being TheLittleCreationist here on FanFiction) who is currently asleep in her bed behind me, taking up the entire space and leaving me to slave over her Dragon Age II cosplay and sleep on the cold hardwood floor in freezing weather while I'm also trying to work on this story so I could get it all posted today. On my period. With stomach cramps and hot flashes.

And yes, I just mentioned my period and stomach cramps on . But that isn't the point. The point is her. Go, tell her she's a horrible person for mistreating me. _I'll love you more._ I guess the fact I painted a black wonky cross on her forehead is payback, but I'm not totally satisfied yet. So go ahead. _Bug her._

**The Lovely Daaaarlings!**

**Mercedes Wolfcry:** Thank you! And ahaha, I love making my readers cry. And laugh, and angry, and… Well, you get the point.

**Mizunou:** I don't usually like them either, but I honestly could see Ed getting all speechy, as he tends to do. And I definitely agree – that's one reason I kind of want to do third person. I've gotten very familiar with it the past few weeks.

**IceFire Dragon Alchemist73:** She does in her own way, doesn't she? Haha, you didn't _really_ slap yourself, did you? XD

**Gummy'Fish'Lover:** Ahahaha! Squeal your pretty little head off, cause here's the new chapter (and the new chapter for the sequel, so squeal for that too!)

**KarmaHope:** It wasn't cause of my sucky updating times, was it? I always hate it when a writer I'm following takes so long, I forget. I try not to do that, but sometimes time gets ahead of me. Thank you, though! I'm glad you like it, especially how I portrayed her. That's something I kinda worried about.

**Katsekala:** I love making people cry, as bitchy that sounds. xD Yes, swoon! I actually thought of that line before I even started writing that chapter, and I couldn't resist putting it in there. I swooned a little myself. And thanks for the suggestion! As you can see, this chapter title is in English, but I used Greek for the first chapter of the sequel.

**MayuhMaulens:** Following from the start? Aasdfghjkl- I just loved you a little. Onto the chapter!

**Tazdevil:** I was wondering if people would realize it. The 'I love you's were kinda spontaneous with Riley, and Ed… Well, as I've said before, he's Ed.

**GrowAtree:** Haha, no, I'm alive, thankfully! I did a mixture of first and third, really, so I hope it goes over well.

**TwinFalco:** Thank you! I was really stressing over that goodbye scene, to be honest. It was so cliché to me, but I couldn't think of anything that fit them more. I did consider leaving their feelings unfulfilled (as a writer, I personally get a bit of entertainment out of that,) but I decided against it. Not sure why, but I did. Maybe I just wanted to give them a little positivity. x'D

**hikaru1012:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**YumiXjaganshi:** I'm really sad about it too. There are a lot of good memories with this story, but it'll kind of be nice to see the status change to "Complete." And LAWL, finally! Only forty-nine chapters! God, you guys are patient. Haha, I wonder how long ago Chapter Twenty was? I don't remember anymore.

**Ausumist:** Sorry about that! Life took me and ran with me. The ending is very final, as I was hoping. I wanted them both to 'know' they would never see each other again, regardless of what I and the audience knows. Ah, dramatic irony.

**AnimeVamp1997:** Haha, really, please don't panic! It's all good (bro.) Yes, it's my fault! I take full responsibility. Gladly. I really liked your explanations into third and first person; those are exactly my thoughts. TSA has always been first person, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to change that.

**XpAiNtONthEwaLLSx:** I did, indeed! xD I'm glad you like Riley (and as mean as it sounds, that you cried too. Hehe.)

**Midna Twilight Princess ROCKS:** Oh, it happened alright. (Evil Cackle here.) And yes, the sequel is up!

**Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...**

Alright, I just wanted to make a quick shout-out to _Shiinku, AnimeFanGirl167, Ausumist_, _IceFire DragonAlchemist73_, _katsekala_, y_umiXjaganshi,_ and_ TallerThanThou ShorterThanThou_! These guys seemed to have stuck around for so long – asdfghkl. I love all you guys and can remember almost every one of you, but this group in particular has been here for a long time and every time I see their review pop up in my email, I get a little warm, fuzzy feeling inside. (I know I forgot some people (lulul, "I remember almost every one of you") who I will remember as soon as I post this… Lesigh.)

And, for the last time on this story, I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I own Riley and any other content/characters/storyline that is not official – it's mine and I lay claim to it.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty:  
**_The End._

"_Pervert."_

_Eyes widened, Ed jerked back to a straight position in his chair. "I didn't mean it like that! You're the one that's inappropriate!"_

_Instantly, I replied with, "Says the one who walks around the house in his boxers at midnight."_

_Ed blushed madly as he stared over at me nervously. "You… You saw me?" He stuttered out._

_Smirking slyly, I nodded with closed eyes. "Kind of hard not to when my room's right next to the stairs. Nice ass by the way."_

"And how is she?"

"She'll be fine, with plenty rest and medication. I wish I could say the same for her mental state."

"Mental state?"

"Look at her, Ma'am. Look at her, and you'll understand." I would have scowled, if I had the energy. Glancing to the two from the side of my eye, I kept quiet. Hawkeye stood there with the doctor, trying to pay attention. All she cared about was making sure I was alive, and then going back to Mustang's room. I didn't blame her, but damn it, how I wanted to wring her neck at the time. Mustang was still alive. She had what she wanted. I didn't care how petty I sounded – Ed was gone. _That's_ what I cared about.

Hawkeye nodded to the doctor before looking back to me and Rose, who sat in the bed beside me. She nodded to us, saluting to me, but I only stared. Her movements faltered, and she gave a sad smile before leaving the room. I wanted to see Mustang, but I knew he was in no condition for it. The doctor gave us one last look before leaving.

"_You alright?" Ed asked me as we walked back to the Rockbell's house._

_I stopped walking, looking over at him with a sigh. "You know me well." Turning the sunset, I continued, "I just I can't believe my father." _

_Ed paused before nodding and walking back to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, albeit it awkward. "He did his best…," He murmured out. _

_Nodding, I said, "I guess. But still… He didn't choke on a tooth fragment? That's impossible!" _

_Silence. _

_The Elric's brow twitched a bit. I rose a brow. "What?" _

"_I was talking about your hands!" Ed shouted angrily, glaring at me as if I had stolen his shoes and cut off the antenna(I refused to call it anything else) on his head that made him taller. _

_I twitched now, "What? Why would I be angry about that? That's the nicest thing anyone's done for me." I smacked him on the head as I whined, "You don't know me at all!"_

Slipping off my hospital bed, I stood once I felt the floor beneath my socked feet. I began to put on the clean set of clothes Hawkeye brought me, and I felt Rose's gaze turn onto me. "What are you doing?" She asked, her voice soft and concerned. I said nothing as I slipped my feet into shoes and headed for the door. I had just got my hand on it, when I heard her again. "Y-You're leaving? You can't yet! The hospital hasn't released us!"

I stopped before I pulled the door open. But I refused to turn to her. "Rose, correct?" I murmured with a bland tone, uncaring of how I sounded.

Rose, who had sat up straighter, blinked in confusion. "Y-Yes?" She asked, brows furrowing.

"…We don't know each other, but I have a favor I have to ask of you," I whispered before finally looking over my shoulder at her.

She paused, unsure about what I would tell her. With a small sigh, she frowned, "W-What is it?"

After a moment of silence, I looked back to the door. "…Soon, you'll probably meet a girl named Winry Rockbell. I'd like you to deliver a message to her for me," My hand clenched around the knob, shaking, "Tell her I'm sorry. If I… If we, all tried a little harder, things maybe wouldn't have turned out like this." I glanced to Rose, who watched me with wide eyes. Frowning, I sighed, "Tell her she was right about me from the beginning."

"_I'm just protecting him_…_ I don't trust you, alright? Just because he trusts you doesn't mean I should! How am I supposed to react? He just comes back one day bringing two girls I don't even know with him! You don't deserve to know anything about him_…_"_

I walked down the hospital halls quietly, eyes turned downward. Nurses watched me in concern, but I ignored them all. I didn't care about any of them. They were okay. They had what they wanted. Ed was gone – that was all I cared about. Running into someone, I stepped back and looked up to apologize, but I froze.

Al smiled at me, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry! I wasn't paying attention."

And neither was I, as I stared at his face. Hawkeye must have sent officers down to get him, but… He was so… So much like Ed and his father, it was scary. His face still looked as young as he was, his ashy blond hair short, and his eyes big. But the look on his face…

He didn't remember me.

So… I lost both Edward _and_ Alphonse?

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

Shaking my head as I was pulled back into reality, I gazed over at him a few more moments before trying to speak. It only came out as a whisper. "…Sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…"

He frowned a little, brows furrowing as he looked at me with worry, just as the nurses had done. "N-No problem," He replied, nodding as he watched me walk by. I would have stayed longer, but it was all getting too hard. The memories, the pain, Al; I couldn't handle any of it anymore. I wanted to run, to get out of there and go wherever I could. The life I knew was over. What are you supposed to do when it ends?

_Ed and I dodged Sloth's attack, getting further apart from one another. Looking over to him, I shouted it out. "__**I love you**__!"_

Sliding down against the wall of the hospital alley, my head fell into my hands as I finally let out the sobs that threatened to burst. Was it… My fault? My fault it ended like this? It felt like it. This wouldn't have happened to them if I had just… Disappeared. I didn't think about what could happen to them, did I? No, I was too concerned about my own wants. Mine. Just mine. And for that, they payed the price.

I should have disappeared. Then maybe they'd… Maybe _he_… Would still be here. From the very beginning, I slowed them down. If not for me, he could have been so many steps ahead. How could I have been so stupid to think I could do anything?

No… I did know. I knew I was worthless. I knew he was probably better off without me. I knew all these things – I just didn't care. I was too selfish to give a damn about any of that. I loved him. That was the only thing I cared about. Without him, I… I needed him. It wasn't the other way around; it never was. Since day one, it was me who needed something. He was fine on his own. Not me.

I was head over heels for Edward Elric. And for that, they payed the price.

_In Loving Memory of Mr. Guy  
5.9.09_

Fin.


End file.
